License plate reader leads to 2 stolen autos, 3 arrests, police say

Two stolen autos were recovered and three people arrested after patrol officers were alerted by their license plate reader Friday, Nassau County police said.

Police said the officers pulled over a Jeep Grand Cherokee at Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road in Elmont about 12:25 a.m. and arrested the driver, Thomas Allen Lauri, 20, of Latham Road in Mineola.

During the investigation, officers determined another vehicle, a Honda Accord, also had been stolen in connection with the Jeep, officials said.

The Honda was found in Mineola, police said, and officers arrested the driver, Justin Lord-Signore, 17, of Lincoln Avenue in Mineola, and his passenger, Jorge Santizo-Lanuza, 20, of Prospect Avenue in Cedarhurst.

All three were charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle. Lauri was also charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

They were scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

Lord-Signore was arraigned Friday and represented by The Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which has a policy of not commenting in the early stage of a case. The teenager was assigned to the adolescent diversion program and released with conditions, according to online court records.

Arraignment details for the other two were not immediately available Friday night.