NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An ex-con who spent much of the last decade in prison is back behind bars in Williamson County—all because he drove past a License Plate Reader (LPR) in Nolensville.

When Nolensville police arrested Kevin Collins on Sept. 30, it solved multiple crimes, in multiple jurisdictions, including Murfreesboro where the 38-year-old was wanted for theft and aggravated assault.

It all unfolded last Friday on Nolensville Road when a Mazda 3, stolen out of Morristown with the stolen license plate out of Murfreesboro, drove by a Nolensville LPR camera.

Within minutes, much of the Nolensville police force was behind the driver, an ex-con now identified as Kevin Collins.

Police found a small amount of meth and a large intimidating knife. “We found a very large knife even Rambo would be jealous of,” said Assistant Chief Michael Terns.

On body cam, the ex-con acted bewildered, constantly asking what he has done wrong.

News 2 has learned that Kevin Brett Collins is the prime suspect in Rutherford County thefts where the suspect allegedly pulled a box cutter and a knife on loss prevention personnel at two stores in Murfreesboro.

At the time, witnesses say that a knife-wielding suspect left in a black Mazda 3. It is the same kind of vehicle Collins was driving when Nolensville police took him into custody.

Terns called LPR cameras great crime-fighting tools.

“It is, it’s great technology for us, puts a cop every corner so to speak. We have LPR that monitor people coming into town, if they have a stolen tag or if they have a warrant, it lets us know and we can go to the area and see if we can locate them,” Terns said. “Fortunately LPR was there, it captured his tag, it alerted us, everything worked the way it is supposed to, it was a well-oiled machine and the man was taken into custody.”

Once in custody, Terns said the suspect kept asking what he did wrong. “He just kept saying I wasn’t doing nothing, I wasn’t doing nothing, the same story we always get. Except for the stolen tag, the stolen car, the methamphetamine, and all the warrants.”

Collins has drug and theft charges in Williamson County and he has six warrants out of Rutherford for aggravated assault and theft.