License plate reader helps deputies find stolen vehicle

When deputies arrested the driver, he also had a credit card skimmer and other people's credit cards.


  • By
  • | 5:50 p.m. July 11, 2019
Deputies found these items inside the stolen car and on suspect Jean-Gilles' person.
Deputies found these items inside the stolen car and on suspect Jean-Gilles' person.
  • Palm Coast Observer
  • Crime
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Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies recovered a stolen vehicle July 9 after it triggered an automatic license plate reader to alert law enforcement.

The LPR "hit" occurred at 3:51 p.m. on Palm Coast Parkway, according to an FCSO charging affidavit.

Kevin Jean-Gilles (Photo courtesy of the FCSO)
Kevin Jean-Gilles (Photo courtesy of the FCSO)

Deputies searched the area and found the vehicle, a red truck with South Carolina tags, in the Winn Dixie Parking lot.

They conduced a felony traffic stop and ordered the driver out of the car. He stepped out with a black laptop bag, and they secured him.

His Florida driver's license identified him as Kevin Jean-Gilles, 37 and a resident of Orlando.

Jean-Gilles told deputies he'd borrowed the vehicle that morning from a friend at a Shell gas station in Daytona Beach, and didn't know it was stolen, according to an FCSO news release.

When deputies searched Jean-Gilles and his bag, they found a large amount of cash, multiple credit cards with other people's names on them, a credit card skimmer, three cell phones, an iPad, two wireless routers, multiple sets of car keys and cocaine.

“This is another excellent example of how our teamwork, technology, and strategies are working to quickly apprehend criminals before they can commit crimes in our community,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in the FCSO news release. “This is a guy who had many items in his possession that are extremely incriminating. Our team will be working with neighboring agencies to ensure that no other crimes have been committed. I am thankful that we were able to arrest him without incident, recover the stolen vehicle and credit card skimmer, and get more drugs off the streets of our community.” 

Jean-Gilles was charged with grand theft auto and possession of cocaine, and taken to the county jail. He was released on a $5,000 bond, according to the news release. 

 

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