SALINE COUNTY —An automated license plate reader helped Salina police nab a Hutchinson man accused of stealing a pickup on Friday.

On Friday, an officer was in the 800 block of North Santa Fe Street when the reader picked up on the plate of a 2004 Ford F250 pickup that had been reported stolen in Hutchinson, according to Salina Police Sergeant David Villanueva.

As the officer turned around to stop the vehicle, it fled the area. The pickup was later seen in the 400 block of South Broadway and was finally stopped just north of Magnolia on southbound Interstate 135.

Police arrested Ronald Pierson, 56,Hutchinson, on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property, according to Villanueva.

The owner of the pickup knew Pierson, but had not given him permission to drive the vehicle. It was valued at $5,000.