Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons, left, Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Beilin and Det. Lt. Justin Haag speak about how police used license plate recognition technology to find a man who held up a Cheektowaga pawn shop.
Cheektowaga police used license plate reader technology to track a man who held up a Walden Avenue pawn shop last year and arrest him at a hospital in Erie, Pa.
Town resident Jaquail A. Yamani, 30, pleaded guilty in June to the May 1, 2023, incident in which he was shot in the leg by pawn shop employees.
At a Thursday news conference, Police Chief Brian Coons detailed how detectives used the department’s Flock Safety license plate reader technology to locate Yamani.
Yamani entered the pawn shop in the 1100 block of Walden Avenue and tried to pawn a laptop computer and Bluetooth speaker, Coons said.
While the store’s owner was examining the items, two accomplices entered the store and Yamani pulled a gun on the owner, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.
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The owner pushed the gun away, ran to the back of the store and pulled out his own firearm. A store employee was also armed, prosecutors said. Yamani and one of the other suspects shot at the owner and an employee, who returned fire, and Yamani was shot in the leg. Nobody else was injured.
Cheektowaga detectives spoke to witnesses who saw Yamani limping down Haller Avenue, not far from the pawn shop, and provided a description of the vehicle he was driving.
Using the vehicle’s description, police used the Flock cameras to identify the black Mazda SUV and its license plate number, even after Yamani and his accomplices switched plates after the shooting, Coons said.
Detectives eventually tracked Yamani to St. Vincent Hospital in Erie, where he drove to get treatment for his gunshot wound.
“The Flock camera system we have was an integral part of this investigation,” Coons said.
Some town residents have expressed concerns about the camera system, describing it as “big brother watching,” Coons said. He disagreed.
The cameras are posted on poles around the town and only capture images of vehicles and their license plates as they drive by. The encrypted data is stored in the system for 30 days and then deleted, Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Beilin said at the news conference.
“License plate readers don’t focus on people at all,” Beilin said. “There’s no facial recognition component.”
The software is tied in with the National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center, so the department gets real-time alerts about stolen vehicles and license plates, missing children, AMBER Alerts and Silver Alerts, Coons said.
The system is not connected with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Coons said, and doesn’t record names, dates of birth or other personal information. Its software is able to categorize vehicle details, such as color, make and model, which helps law enforcement track down a vehicle even if the license plate is removed or switched.
“It’s a force-multiplier, as I call it,” Coons said. “It’s helped police departments solve crimes a little faster.”
Cheektowaga police have used the technology for about two years, including in homicide and kidnapping investigations.
Flock Safety’s license plate reader technology is used in 48 states and in some of the country’s largest cities, including San Diego and Houston, Beilin said.
Yamani pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree attempted robbery, as well as first-degree attempted assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree attempted robbery, all felonies. He was ordered held without bail and is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 9. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Two others who took part in the robbery have not been identified, according to the DA’s office.