Ketchikan-based Alaska State Troopers impounded a vehicle after stopping the driver for driving a vehicle without its rear license plate displayed after more serious violations were discovered, the trooper dispatch reported on Friday.

Troopers stopped the 1985 Ford F-150 on the South Tongass Highway on Thursday and contacted the driver, who they identified as 51-year-old Ketchikan resident James Lee Stanley.

In addition to the missing rear plate, troopers would find that Stanley was also driving without a valid driver’s license and no proof of insurance. Troopers also found that the vehicle’s registration was also expired.

Further investigation would discover that the vehicle’s VIN number had been removed. Vehicle Identification numbers are a unique 17 digit number issued to each vehicle and are used to track the vehicle’s history. Car thieves routinely strip the vehicles VIN number from the car or alter it. Many times a VIN number will be taken from one car and placed on a stolen vehicle. It is a felony to alter or remove a vehicle’s VIN number.

Stanley was arrested on felony charges for the missing VIN number and remanded to the Ketchikan Correctional Center. He was also issued a summons with a mandatory court appearance for operating a vehicle without a license and issued citations for failure to show proof of insurance and the expired registration.

The vehicle was impounded.

  arrest, james stanley, ketchikan, no insurance, no license, registration, vin number