Cybertruck explosion: How Tesla charging stations, license plate readers aided law enforcement
Law enforcement officials got an assist from technology in their investigation of the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck that was loaded with fireworks and explosive materials at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference the day of the explosion that Tesla CEO Elon Musk aided the investigation with videos taken at Tesla charging stations, as well as the city's license plate reader (LPR) system.
"I have to thank Elon Musk. Specifically, he gave us quite a bit of additional information in regards to how the vehicle was locked after it exploded due to the nature of the force from the explosion, as well as being able to capture all of the video from the Tesla charging stations across the country and he sent that directly to us, so I appreciate his help on that," McMahill explained.
"The first indication of that vehicle arriving here in Las Vegas came from a license plate reader, so technology has been very useful to us in resolving this," he added.
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Retired NYPD inspector Paul Mauro told FOX Business in an interview that LPRs have "grown to the point where most cities, if not all, have license plate readers scattered around the city for various reasons."
"With Musk on board, with a prosecutor really to write the quick warrants you need with the emergency exception of trying to figure out if there's another terrorist attack here, are they linked, etc., you're going to get all that information very, very quickly," he explained.
"Between that and the LPRs these days, you should be able to put quite an accurate and fulsome travel path together regarding this guy and I'm sure that's what they're working on now and I'm sure they probably got most of it already," Mauro said.
McMahill said at a press conference on Thursday that authorities have pieced together the route traveled by the suspect, Matthew Livelsberger, who was inside the explosives-laden Cybertruck.
Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck in Denver on Dec. 28. McMahill said from there, "We tracked his movements through the Tesla charging stations to Monument, Colorado, on Dec. 30th. On the 31st of December, the truck was charged in Trinidad, Colorado; Las Vegas, New Mexico; and Albuquerque and Gallup, New Mexico. On Jan. 1st, the truck was charged in Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman, Arizona."
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McMahill added that authorities are looking to identify other people who may have been using the charging stations at the same time to get additional video that can be used in the investigation.
The Cybertruck was also spotted by LPRs entering Las Vegas and the technology was used to trace the path that ended at the Trump International Hotel, where the explosion occurred. One person was killed and seven were injured in the blast.
Musk and Tesla are continuing to aid the investigation, as McMahill noted Thursday that the company dispatched experts to try to extract video from the vehicle to aid the investigation.
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"Many of you may know that Cybertrucks contain a tremendous number of cameras. Again, Mr. Musk has sent out a number of his folks that will be arriving here this afternoon with the intent to try to capture the part… that captured all that from inside the truck," McMahill said.
FOX Business' Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.