Man Sentenced to More Than 1 Year for Grand Theft of Vehicle From Norfolk Dealership

NORFOLK, Va. — Zebulon Masiah Oliver, 25, was sentenced on Thursday to serve 1 year and three months in prison after he pleaded guilty to the grand larceny of a vehicle from a Norfolk car dealership.

Around 2 a.m. on Feb. 14, Portsmouth Police patrol officers ran the temporary tags on a Chrysler 300 being driven in their city, found the tags to be registered to a different vehicle, and pulled the Chrysler over. Mr. Oliver was identified as the driver and was the only person in the car. The officers released Mr. Oliver on a traffic summons and had the vehicle towed for further investigation. Portsmouth Police investigators later determined that the vehicle belonged to a dealership in Norfolk and contacted the dealership. A representative confirmed that they last had the Chrysler on their lot on Feb. 7, that a key to the vehicle was missing, and that they had not yet sold the vehicle or allowed anyone to take it.

Using the Flock system, Norfolk Police investigators confirmed that the stolen Chrysler bearing the false tags was first seen being driven in Norfolk on Feb. 13 — less than a day prior to Mr. Oliver’s arrest. Based on that information, Norfolk investigators secured a warrant against Mr. Oliver for felony grand larceny of an automobile.

Mr. Oliver entered an agreement on Thursday to plead guilty as charged to the felony and be sentenced to serve one year and three months in jail, with another two years and nine months suspended on the conditions that he complete two years of uniform good behavior after his release. Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted Mr. Oliver’s plea agreement and sentenced him per the agreement.

“I commend the Norfolk Police Department for their intelligent use of the Flock license-plate reader system to help hold Mr. Oliver accountable for auto theft,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Without technology, this crime could never have been charged, let alone proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The responsible use of technology helps us hold accountable the people who commit crimes while protecting the civil rights of the innocent.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Tara S. Terwilliger prosecuted Mr. Oliver’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detective Thomas W. Bowen led the investigation.

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