Security Camera Helps Nab Car Thief in City

A Lancaster Community Safety Coalition employee informed police of the theft on North Shippen Street.

By Chad Umble
Lancaster New Era Staff Writer
July 7, 2006

Shortly after he was filmed by a security camera Wednesday evening, a Lancaster man was caught and arrested by City police in connection with a stolen car.

Jose Luis Gonzalez, 33, of the 300 block of West Grant Street, faces several vehicle-theft charges after being recroded by a video camera near North Shippen Street and Musser Park, police said.

At approximately 9:41 p.m. Wednesday, an employee of the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition, who was monitoring video from cameras mounted in the area, noticed a person moving from car to car and attempting to open vehicle doors, police said.

The suspect, later identified as Gonzalez, then forced his way into a car parked on the first block of North Shippen Street and fled the area in the vehicle, police said.

The Safety Coalition employee relayed the incident to city police. Minutes later, a stolen car matching the description of the vehicle was reported, police said.

At 10:10 p.m., officers spotted the reportedly stolen vehicle and attempted to stop it in the 500 block of East Marion Street. The suspect fled on foot, but was apprehended after a brief chase.

Gonzalez is charged with theft, theft form a motor vehicle, possessing instruments of crime and unsworn falsification to authorities.

Several of the cameras used in the arrest were recently installed, said Dale Witmer, executive director of the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition which monitors 26-cameras mounted in the city.

He noted that in this incident the live monitoring of the cameras led to the quick arrest of a suspect, some 30 minutes after the initial report.

"These types of crimes are very difficult to solve after the fact," he said.

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