Two teenage boys are facing preliminary charges after Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers tracked down a stolen vehicle on the city's east side Tuesday afternoon, chased down both suspects, and recovered two 9mm handguns, one of which was confirmed stolen. Officers began searching for the vehicle just after 2:30 p.m. and located it near the 6800 block of East 21st Street, close to Shadeland Avenue, where the two male suspects bailed out and ran.
According to IMPD News, a criminal interdiction officer used automated license plate reader technology to locate the vehicle, which was confirmed stolen and recovered at the scene. The department's criminal interdiction unit coordinated with east district officers, IMPD K9, and detectives to box in the area, deploying a perimeter, a drone, and a K9 to track down the fleeing pair. One suspect was taken into custody in a nearby residential area, while the second hid in an overgrown area before officers used less-lethal rounds to bring him out after he did not follow their commands. As reported by WTHR, the incident unfolded around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near the 6800 block of East 21st Street on Indianapolis' east side.
Both suspects were determined to be juveniles. One male suspect was reportedly armed with a handgun, and detectives ultimately recovered two 9mm handguns from the scene, with one of the firearms confirmed stolen. IMPD said the incident ended with a safe conclusion despite the presence of weapons. The suspects were arrested on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, and IMPD noted that suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court, with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office set to make the final charging decision.
How License Plate Cameras Made the Difference
The recovery leaned on IMPD's expansive Flock Safety camera network, which as of August 2026 spans 301 automated license plate reader cameras across Indianapolis, according to reporting by the Washington Post. That network gives officers the ability to flag stolen vehicles in near real time and coordinate specialized units like drones and K9 teams to close in quickly, as happened in Tuesday's arrest.
Under Indiana Code § 35-44.1-3-1, resisting law enforcement on foot or by force is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine, though it can be elevated to a felony if a vehicle is used or if the conduct poses a substantial risk of bodily injury, according to Keffer Hirschauer LLP. Unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, meanwhile, is generally charged as a Class B misdemeanor under Indiana Code § 35-43-4-2.7, per Justia Law.
A Tool Under Scrutiny
The same camera technology that helped recover Tuesday's stolen vehicle has drawn intense scrutiny in Indianapolis in recent weeks. In August, IMPD Chief Tanya Terry suspended an officer and recommended termination after an investigation found the officer allegedly ran license plate reader searches for personal reasons thousands of times, WTHR reported. That case follows the July plea deal of former IMPD officer Nicholas A. Cauley, who lost his badge in a harassment case after using department computers and his patrol car to run unauthorized plate lookups to harass an ex-partner.
In response to misuse incidents across Indiana and the country, Flock Safety announced platform updates in September requiring mandatory search reason codes and automated auditing tools, per the same WTHR reporting. Indiana currently has no statewide statutory framework regulating automated license plate readers, leaving data retention limits and privacy rules up to individual department policies, according to regional reporting. Nearby, the Greenwood Police Department launched an online Flock Transparency Portal in September to publish monthly search categories and camera counts, a response WTHR tied directly to the public concern over misuse in Central Indiana.
Part of a Broader Crime Trend
Tuesday's arrest arrives as citywide property crimes in Indianapolis fell 30% in 2026 compared to 2025 levels, with vehicle thefts also declining, according to IMPD statistics reported by the Indianapolis Star. It's the latest in a string of recent stolen-vehicle cases involving teenagers that IMPD and neighboring departments have closed using license plate camera technology, including a case Hoodline covered in June involving a southwest Indy carjacking duo and a May case in which Fishers police tracked armed teenagers fleeing into Indianapolis.
