A 47-year-old Lodi man was arrested in Livermore last Sunday after police say he fled officers in a stolen Hyundai Sonata, drove the wrong way down a freeway off-ramp, then ditched the car and ran across Interstate 580 before a police drone spotted him hiding on the other side. Officers also found a large amount of stolen mail inside the car, according to police.
The chain of events began on Aug. 9 when an automated license plate reader flagged a stolen license plate out of Pleasanton near First Street and Interstate 580, according to the Livermore Police Department. Officers responding to the alert located a black Hyundai Sonata parked in front of a business on First Street. The department says the Sonata itself had been reported stolen out of Livermore weeks earlier, in July.
When officers approached, the driver — later identified as Steven Wolverton — drove away from them, prompting Livermore Police to initiate a pursuit. That pursuit was canceled after Wolverton drove the wrong way on a freeway off-ramp, a maneuver police said created too great a risk to continue the chase. Under California Vehicle Code Section 2800.4, fleeing officers by driving against the flow of traffic is a wobbler offense that can carry up to three years in state prison. per FindLaw.
Drone Locates Suspect Hiding by the Freeway
After the pursuit was called off, a witness reported seeing a person running across Interstate 580. Livermore Police then turned to their Unmanned Aircraft System drone unit, which has previously been used during high-risk searches and suspect pursuits, according to Patch. The department's report notes the drone located Wolverton hiding on the south side of the freeway, and officers took him into custody.
California Highway Patrol and Dublin Police Department both assisted Livermore officers during the search, and it was Dublin Police who located the abandoned Hyundai Sonata. The multi-agency response mirrors a pattern seen along the Interstate 580 corridor before; in November 2025, Livermore Police pursued a stolen car near Isabel Avenue that reached double the posted speed limit, ultimately canceling that chase too before finding the vehicle and arresting two juveniles at an apartment complex.
Stolen Mail and Multiple Arrests on Suspicion
Inside the Sonata, officers reported finding a large amount of stolen mail. Wolverton was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, receiving or possessing a stolen vehicle, felony evading while driving the wrong way on a highway, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violating the terms of his post-release community supervision. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 1708 makes possessing stolen mail punishable by up to five years in federal prison per offense, often triggering joint investigations with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as Hoodline previously reported in a separate East Bay mail theft case that also ended with a drone-assisted arrest.
Post-Release Community Supervision, the program cited in Wolverton's arrest, was created under California's 2011 Public Safety Realignment Act to shift post-prison monitoring of non-violent offenders from state parole officers to county probation departments, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It remains unclear from available records what underlying conviction placed Wolverton on that supervision status.
License Plate Cameras Keep Flagging Stolen Cars in Livermore
The case again highlights how automated license plate readers have become central to how Livermore Police intercept stolen vehicles. The department's ALPR system, powered by vendor Flock Safety, automatically cross-references scanned plates against crime hotlists and alerts patrol officers in real time, according to the City of Livermore. Independent tracking data from Finding Flock counted 39 documented camera locations across the city's 26.6 square miles as of this month, with more than 97% supplied by Flock Safety.
Livermore isn't alone in leaning on the technology. Just last month, Livermore Police used ALPR data and coordination with Pleasanton Police to track down a suspect in an armed road-rage confrontation before arresting him in Pleasanton, a case Hoodline covered in its report on the road-rage arrest and pot bust. Stolen vehicles turning up loaded with mail and financial documents has also become a recurring theme in the area; in June 2024, Livermore Police arrested two Oakland residents near the Livermore Outlets after finding more than 100 pieces of stolen mail, stolen credit cards, and methamphetamine inside another stolen car.
It's not yet known whether the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will take on the mail theft portion of Wolverton's case for federal prosecution, or how many identity theft victims may be tied to the mail recovered from the Sonata. Those questions, along with the specifics of the prior offense that placed Wolverton on post-release supervision, remain open as the investigation continues.
