Handwritten license plate leads Benicia police to stolen car
BENICIA - A handwritten license plate that caught the eye of police in Benicia early Friday may have looked official enough for its creator, but a check showed the car had been stolen.
About 1 a.m., an officer spotted the license plate in the 5000 block of East Second Avenue and saw "this beautifully handwritten license plate on a car," police said on social media.
The plate had the requisite seven numeric and letter characters, but it didn't quite pass muster with police.
Although a photo posted by police of the handwritten license plate appears to show an expiration date of 2025, police said it is actually written to be 2023.
"We know we are not superheroes, but just FYI this is NOT a way to get one over on us," the department said in a Facebook post.
A check showed that the car had been reported stolen out of Alameda.
The driver, a 38-year-old woman, was detained, arrested and booked into Solano County Jail without incident, police said.