License plate/ identity question

Random question here. In MN, if someone knows your license plate, how much info can they find about you?

I got threatened and nearly assaulted by a tweaker in a parking lot after walking my dog this morning. It started down by the Mississippi but I mostly avoided the confrontation and got outta there. I got me and the dog safely into my truck and got the doors locked barely in time before he was up against the truck. He stood in front of my truck and refused to let me leave. I called 911 and had to sit there in a standoff listening to this guy threaten my life for 15 minutes before the cops arrived. Dude was shirtless in 45 degree weather and was HUGE. He told me his first name and he had memorial tattoos with a last name so I googled him when I got home. Scary guy with multiple arrests included aggravated assault and battery.

Anyway one of the things he did while waiting for the cops to arrive was repeat my license plate number about a hundred times and told me he “never forgets anything.” So that in combination with the blatant threats of violence has me worried this crazy dude is gonna show up at my doorstep and present a threat to my family. I’m still waiting on a call back from the cops. They hardly asked me anything. I had my dog so they told me I could get her home and they’d call me if they needed. I didn’t love that, but I wanted to get my dog home and my daughter was waiting for me as well so I left. Pretty messed up morning here!

Lean on that 2nd ammendment right.
Lock the doors, lock and load.

That’s a scary encounter for sure!

A quick Google search told this answer:
Yes, with a license plate number, you can usually find out the registered owner’s name and vehicle details through your state’s DMV records, but accessing this information directly without authorization is often restricted by privacy laws like the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), meaning you typically need a legitimate reason to look up someone’s personal information using their plate number.

that would suk… glad you made it to the truck.. what set the a-hole off? I’m not sure how much info you can get that way.. search your own plate and see and let us jnow..

I believe the only way to find out is to have someone “in the know” to look it up . Likely a tweaker who’s been to jail a billion times doesn’t have any LEO friends .

What set him off in the first place ?

And what did the cops do to him ?

Thanks for the feedback. I’m obviously doing some further digging into this on my own but thought I’d tap the hive mind as well.

What set him off is a bit of a mystery to me. When I walked into the beach with my dog I saw him about 50 yards down the shore. He was breaking down a tent. My gut told me to avoid the shirtless illegal camper, but with low water the beach is super wide and I figured if we stuck to the waters edge and just ignored them we’d be fine. That was a stupid mistake by me. I got closer and could see there was a half naked women still inside the tent he was breaking down. I was too close to turn heel without it being obvious that i was avoiding them. As I was passing he introduced myself and asked if my name was xxxx, by chance. (I don’t post my name on the internet sorry). Crazy thing is, he was right about my name somehow (first name only). Best I can piece this together this woman wronged him in some way and she told him it was xxxxx’s fault. Giant coincidence that a guy with the same name comes walking along? I just kept walking past and a minute later he’s yelling after me. I took a different route back to the parking lot and barely beat him back.

It’s entirely possible that he was just on drugs or having a mental health crisis as well, and in those circumstances it doesn’t really pay to dig for a reason to explain the behavior.

Have no idea what happened between him and the cops after I left.

That’s some bad luck – think I’d be telling randoms my name is zepherleffigus from here on out ha .

isu22andy wrote:

That’s some bad luck – think I’d be telling randoms my name is zepherleffigus from here on out ha .

Right?!! I normally would never tell a random dude my name, but he caught me off guard by asking me specifically if it was xxxxx and being correct. My expression probably gave me away before I even had a chance to mumble yeah.

Conceal carry for when that situation gets worse. I bet the cops did a bunch of nothing. Working odd hours all over the cities we encounter alot of messed up people, threats, attempted break ins, assaults on co workers from crack heads. The police typically don’t do much but deescalate the perp.
As far as plates it’s not hard to find info off of a plate number. Usually cam get to some vulnerable information these days with the internet being endless.

I’m no law expert, at all. Just a little experience with it as a private security instructor.

If he caused fear of harm with his actions there could be some level of assault he could be charged with.

And something that I know even less about but I’m just throwing this out there…. if his actions meant you couldn’t leave, could that be false imprisonment??

Hopefully you hear back, if this is someone not in their right mind for whatever reason I’d say it’s absolutely worth a call to the police telling them you’d like some follow up info based on concern for your own safety.

And like others have mentioned, utilize a permit to carry. And be familiar with how to apply it in different situations. I think a lot of people start carrying and think a use of force situation will be blatantly obvious. But if an unarmed big guy is yelling and threatening you, it would be smart to know how to verbalize your actions if you used force.

Dan wrote:

I’m no law expert, at all. Just a little experience with it as a private security instructor.

If he caused fear of harm with his actions there could be some level of assault he could be charged with.

And something that I know even less about but I’m just throwing this out there…. if his actions meant you couldn’t leave, could that be false imprisonment??

Hopefully you hear back, if this is someone not in their right mind for whatever reason I’d say it’s absolutely worth a call to the police telling them you’d like some follow up info based on concern for your own safety.

And like others have mentioned, utilize a permit to carry. And be familiar with how to apply it in different situations. I think a lot of people start carrying and think a use of force situation will be blatantly obvious. But if an unarmed big guy is yelling and threatening you, it would be smart to know how to verbalize your actions if you used force.

I will follow up with the police tomorrow if I haven’t heard anything from them. I’m not interested in pressing charges or anything of that nature. Never want to see this guy again or have anything to do with it.

I don’t have a CC and haven’t owned a gun since my Daisy 880 in elementary school. Not really my cup of tea but I’m rethinking.

I think you did the right thing by getting back to your truck, locking the doors, and calling the authorities.

My guess is that he was definitely having a mental break down or on drugs. Normal people don’t behave like that.

I am willing to bet he won’t remember your license plate number. Hell I can not remember my own.

What’s the guy’s name? Blast it here. If you harass someone else who is completely innocent, you deserve to be outted.

buckybadger wrote:

What’s the guy’s name? Blast it here. If you harass someone else who is completely innocent, you deserve to be outted.

Pass. Who knows what I’ve drunkenly posted on this site in the last however many years that could ID me. Dude googles his name, finds this post, starts digging. No thanks.

The guy was more then likely just a homeless junkie, most have some form of mental illness and mn doesn’t do anything to help them or get them off the streets. I’m down town now in a sketchy area and what you dealt with is literally a weekly occurance when we work at these times down here. Some areas are worse then others and some people are worse then others. We had a guy try to take a crap inside a Job he broke in to and then picked it up and threw it at another guy from another company. We’ve had our lives threatened I’ve literally seen it all, knives pulled out because we wouldn’t give a guy steak sandwiches one time, like why the hell would I have a steak sandwich randomly. Just stay strapped and prepared at all times. The police don’t do much to these people unless they physically harm you. Which he didn’t I bet the guys ” camping right now again.
If you don’t like guns then carry a knife and get a meaner dog.
” shadow walkers ” are everywhere in this poop hole city. Help isn’t, be prepared to be your own help.

From Info Tracer website:
“License plate information is created, stored, and managed by government offices such as the department of motor vehicles (DMV), department of transportation (DOT), and town offices where motorists register their cars. License plate records are governed by strict Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) laws. Using InfoTracer’s powerful search engine when looking up license plate reports, you can find when available, the vehicle make, model, year, vehicle identification number (VIN), vehicle details, vehicle specs, trim level, engine and brake types, recalls and defects, current and past owners (if DPPA allowable use applies), public records and more!”
I’m not looking to fuel fear, its just reality. There are plenty of websites out there to do reverse lookup on plates. From experience, the info is not always current if the vehicle was recently sold. Daughter was involved in a hit/run and she got a plate number. We ran a report ourselves and I was surprised at how much info is out there if you are willing to pay for it

I’ll open a can of worms here – what if you did have your CCW , what would have done different here ? Brandishing a gun without an intention of using it is a no no in the class I took . Shooting an unarmed man wouldn’t want to be the court case I’m in in this state . Pro 2A as the come and big gun owner , just don’t carry enough .

so you’re telling me this “crazy” person has access to the internet and the mental capacity to dig deep enough on the internet to find your name and address? Further more, have you tried finding the information yourself yet?

grubson wrote:

Lean on that 2nd ammendment right.
Lock the doors, lock and load.

Right on. The police aren’t going to do anything.

you can get name and address in about 5 min with a license plate number

I didn’t want to pay to use the websites that claim to get you this info, they all seem scammy to me. Thanks Randy for confirming via personal experience that this is possible.

Isu22andy— this is a big reason why I don’t have a CC. My neighbor teaches the classes and we’ve talked about this specifically. I would not have drawn on this dude yesterday. I was relatively safe in my car with doors locked and windows up. If he had busted a window and came after me who knows where that would be gone. It’s hard for me to get past the fact that people who carry daily have to be prepared to have the worst day of their life every time they leave the house. I’m naive to a degree but I’ve lived in St Paul for going on 25 years and this is the only time I’ve had to call the police for my own safety. Have walked my dogs hundreds of times in this very area without incident. This is not a “poop hole city.” This guy was a poop-hole human and they can be found anywhere. In fact he lives in Isanti so there’s that.

Phish— well the guy has a Facebook page and he’s active on it recently so it’s not like he doesn’t have internet access. Part of me is convinced now that he wasn’t on drugs just mad as hell about this woman.

dirtywater wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
What’s the guy’s name? Blast it here. If you harass someone else who is completely innocent, you deserve to be outted.

Pass. Who knows what I’ve drunkenly posted on this site in the last however many years that could ID me. Dude googles his name, finds this post, starts digging. No thanks.

If the guy goes so far as to track you down with location and link your identity to your username through a mostly defunct outdoor forum based on a past post about him aggressively cornering you in a public part of a metropolitan area of over 3 million people……………then you really are in trouble.

dirtywater wrote:

In fact he lives in Isanti so there’s that.

Isanti you say? Pretty much a 100% chance of Meth.

In this state I’ve basically come to the conclusion that if I fire my weapon at another human for any reason (even to save my own life or my family’s life while in emminent danger of being killed), I am likely going to prison. That’s just the Minnesota BS way regardless of what the law says, your training, etc.

isu22andy wrote:

I’ll open a can of worms here – what if you did have your CCW , what would have done different here ? Brandishing a gun without an intention of using it is a no no in the class I took . Shooting an unarmed man wouldn’t want to be the court case I’m in in this state . Pro 2A as the come and big gun owner , just don’t carry enough .

Nothing in that situation, but if it escalated further he would have protection. And you never know when the crazy will push it further

Well first off he would need a computer and a car. Guessing he has none of those so your OK LOL

Bucky— point taken, but I found out a lot about him in 5 minutes and it’s been established he could do the same. The risk may be small but I have nothing to gain by posting his name here.

Bigcrappie— like I said he has an active Facebook page. He definitely has access to the internet. Hell, most of the homeless folks I see around have smart phones, also see a bunch on computers at the public library.

dirtywater wrote:

Bucky— point taken, but I found out a lot about him in 5 minutes and it’s been established he could do the same. The risk may be small but I have nothing to gain by posting his name here.

Bigcrappie— like I said he has an active Facebook page. He definitely has access to the internet. Hell, most of the homeless folks I see around have smart phones, also see a bunch on computers at the public library.

I wouldn’t stress about it. Nothing good that’ll do. It’s just a risk a guy takes every day in life. Violet crimes and 170 percent higher in that area then anywhere else in the state. Crazy people are every where. Be prepared to defend your self with what ever you have. Carry pepper spray like most women do.

BC ouch that made me laugh. Pepper spray it is. I can strap it to my pink Stanley cup so it’s always available