A bullet tore through the front window of Super Tobacco and Vape in York County on Wednesday evening, striking the shop during a shooting involving two vehicles in a nearby parking lot. Two people were inside the store at the time, but officials say no injuries were reported. Within days, deputies had a 19-year-old Chesapeake man in custody facing three felony and firearm-related charges.
According to WAVY.com, York County deputies responded around 7:30 pm Wednesday to a shopping-center parking lot in the 2700 block of George Washington Memorial Highway after reports of shots fired. The store, Super Tobacco & Vape, sits along U.S. Route 17 in Yorktown, according to SmokeShops.com. Deputies arrested 19-year-old Trequan Lavayne Pryor, identifying him through a combination of store security video and Flock automated license plate reader technology, the station's report states.
Pryor now faces a charge of possessing a stolen firearm, a felony charge of reckless handling of a firearm, and a felony charge of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, per the same account.
How License Plate Technology Led Deputies to a Suspect
The role of Flock camera technology in identifying Pryor comes weeks after the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office held a public forum addressing resident concerns about the surveillance tool. At that September gathering, Sheriff Ron Montgomery explained that the automated readers capture vehicle make, model, color, and rear license plate images to assist active criminal investigations in York County, according to the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily.
That same reporting notes that Virginia law places strict limits on how officers use the technology: searches of plate reader data must be directly connected to an active criminal investigation supported by reasonable suspicion, and officers must log a case number, offense type, and written justification for every query. Unauthorized searches without reasonable suspicion carry a Class 1 misdemeanor under state law.
Felony Firearm Charges Carry Mandatory Prison Time
Under Virginia Code § 18.2-53.1, using or displaying a firearm during the commission of a felony is a distinct charge carrying a mandatory minimum of three years in prison for a first conviction, according to Bezilla & Hall, PLLC.
The reckless handling charge he faces is typically a Class 1 misdemeanor when it endangers life, limb, or property, but it escalates to a Class 6 felony carrying one to five years in prison when it causes permanent and significant physical impairment, per Bryan J. Jones, LLC. Separately, Pryor faces a charge of possessing a stolen firearm.
A Statewide Divide Over Camera Surveillance
York County's reliance on Flock technology to crack the case stands in contrast to decisions made elsewhere in Virginia this past September. Arlington County and Dumfries both voted to dismantle or cancel their Flock Safety camera contracts following public debates over surveillance and data privacy, as Hoodline detailed in its coverage of Arlington's camera removal. The split illustrates how differently Virginia localities are weighing the tradeoffs between investigative tools and civil liberties concerns tied to the same vendor's technology.
For now, the case in York County remains open. Investigators have not said whether the driver of the second vehicle involved in the parking-lot shooting has been identified or charged, and WAVY notes that additional charges against Pryor may still be filed as the investigation continues.
