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Van stolen in Oregon recovered near Alda

Van stolen in Oregon recovered near Alda

Grand Island Independent
March 3, 2010

A hit on the Nebraska State Patrol’s license plate reader lead to the recovery of a mini van stolen from Salem, Ore., and the arrest of a man driving the vehicle near Alda.

On Friday, the communications center at Troop D in North Platte received a “be on the lookout” message from the Salem, Ore., Police Department on a stolen silver 1997 Oldsmobile Silhouette mini van. Around 1:45 p.m., a trooper out of Lexington, operating a license plate reader device typed in the license plate information, according to a press release from the Nebraska State Patrol.

The trooper received a delayed hit with the plate matching one run about a half hour earlier at the Lexington Interstate 80 interchange. The updated information was put out and troopers were asked to be on the lookout for the mini van, according to the release.

Shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, a trooper out of Grand Island stopped a vehicle one mile west of the Alda I-80 interchange matching the license plate and description, according to the release.

The driver, Ernesto Alejandro Orozco-Leyva, a Mexican national, was arrested and taken to the Hall County Jail.

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