IMPD uses license plate reader technology to catch robbery suspect

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis police say they used some modern technology to arrest a man for robbing businesses on the city’s north side.

On Friday, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to two businesses robberies about 30 minutes apart.

IMPD says 55-year-old Alonzo Sansbury attempted to pay at Dollar Tree on North Keystone Avenue with a fake $100 bill and then demanded money from the cash register.

“The second robbery took place at Big Lots on North Allisonville Road, where the suspect brandished a handgun and stole money and Funyuns from the store,” IMPD said in a release.

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage and noticed that the suspect was wearing a grey long-sleeve shirt, black stocking cap, grey sweatpants, black and orange shoes, and had a noticeable limp. They also noticed that the suspect drove away from the businesses in a white van.

Investigators say they used Automatic License Plate Reading technology to track down Sansbury and the van at a gas station. That’s where they searched his car and found the grey long-sleeve shirt, black stocking cap, and Funyuns, according to IMPD.

The IMPD Covert Robbery Unit, the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, the Auto Theft Unit, and the IMPD Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team all worked together to investigate Sansbury’s case.  

Police say this is not the first time Sansbury has been accused of robbery. Online court records show he was convicted of felony robbery in 2017.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

A booking photo was not immediately available.