Tesla Sentry Mode is again proving quite useful as the Berkley police say that it helped them arrest a convicted rapist who was on parole.

Building on its previously released dashcam feature, Tesla enabled the use of more cameras around the vehicle and activated a “stand-by” parking mode.

The feature became Sentry Mode, which also includes an alarm and notification system to deter thieves even more — efficiently creating a system to watch over Tesla vehicles when their owners are not around.

It was first developed to address a growing problem with break-ins that Tesla owners were dealing with especially in California.

The Berkley police are reporting that they used footage from Sentry Mode sent by a Tesla onwer who was the victim of a car burglary (via NBC):

“On April 3 we had a reported auto burglary, where a suspect broke into a Tesla. That vehicle recorded the suspect’s image.”

The owner realized his vehicle was broken into and review the footage from Sentry Mode to find a clear picture of the thief.

He sent it to the police, who were already investigating a series of car break-ins, and they manage to quickly identify Derrick Conerly, a convicted rapist wearing a GPS ankle monitor, and arrest him.

Even though the feature has only been available for a few months, it’s apparently not the first time that it helped assist an arrest.

Last month, a woman was reportedly arrested for keying a Tesla after the incident was captured with Sentry mode.

Tesla Sentry mode caught another act of vandalism on a Tesla and the video become extremely popular — forcing the two vandals to turn themselves in.

We also recently reported on Tesla Sentry Mode capturing crazier and crazier things.

Electrek’s Take

Another criminal genius behind bars.

There’s no doubt that Sentry Mode is already useful, but I believe the impact of making these stories widespread would prove to be even more useful by deterring potential break-ins.

If you have interesting Sentry Mode stories, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

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