UK News Car thief sprayed with invisible dye in police trap

[FireCat]

A thief was arrested after being sprayed with invisible ultra violet dye when he broke into a 'trap car' set up by police. Yafet Askale, 28, denied breaking into the vehicle which had been fitted with a traceable liquid called SmartWater, which contains a dye that becomes visible under ultra violet light.

As he stole items including a laptop he activated a system which sprayed him with the substance and alerted police the car had been broken into. Ultra violet lights showed Askale covered in the spray. Releasing the images as a warning, Detective Inspector Madeline Ryder, of Brent Police, said: "This is another excellent example of the thorough work completed by Brent Officers. Using the trap car technology we were able to charge Askale and put him before the courts.

"The trap car forms part of an overall crime reduction strategy designed by SmartWater which is an effective weapon in the armoury of tools that we routinely use in Brent. We will continue to target those who are insistent on committing these types of offence. "Brent Police say very clearly to any would be thieves - don't come to Brent - our trap cars and trap houses are waiting for you."

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Such an Awesome Trap!

 

[The Helper]

lol busted

 

[Wummi]

Pure awesomeness!

 

[Varine]

They need this technology to catch murderers. What are they wasting these resources on thieves for?!

 

[The Helper]

They already have the technology. The pic just looks cool

 

[tom_mai78101]

It's a bit worrisome to see some dye in your eyes, and make your eyes glow like that.

 

[Accname]

Can he not just say that he is working with that stuff regularily? Maybe as a hobby?
I mean, is it not likely that every car thief will get himself a bottle of that stuff and pretend to be a hobby chemist in his spare time?

 

[Narks]

Can he not just say that he is working with that stuff regularily? Maybe as a hobby?
I mean, is it not likely that every car thief will get himself a bottle of that stuff and pretend to be a hobby chemist in his spare time?

there is presumably other evidence - how would they know who to check for the dye in the first place?

 

[KMilz]

there is presumably other evidence - how would they know who to check for the dye in the first place?

That was my question. I'm sure it helps to convict the person once they're caught, but I don't see how this would aid in the investigation at all unless cops are walking down the streets with blacklights.

 

[seph ir oth]

That was my question. I'm sure it helps to convict the person once they're caught, but I don't see how this would aid in the investigation at all unless cops are walking down the streets with blacklights.

Also, say if the guy was workin with a gang/group. What would stop all members to spray themselves with the stuff? That way, they could all be like "well, you only have one guy on tape and all of us are sprayed ... this is bad evidence!"

 

[Varine]

I would countersue, saying they sprayed toxic fucking shit in my eyes that glows.

 

[Narks]

The "Index Solutions" variant is a water-based solution containing low-level additives, which are blended using a binary sequence to ensure uniqueness. The Index Solution is contained within a spray system that is activated by an intruder detection unit, similar to a burglar alarm, and marks the intruder with a unique forensic spray, which the police locate using a black (UV) light.

so its basically unique, no way to forge the liquid

i believe the smartwater was used to ensure a conviction - maybe they only had circumstantial evidence that he broke into the car, enough to find him but not enough to convict