It didn’t take long for the killing of 9-month-old Blackey, a black-and-white male pit bull mix, to spread far beyond the Santa Ana neighborhood in California where he died.

According to police, Blackey’s “owner” put the puppy in the street before deliberately running him over with her Honda Odyssey and driving away, leaving the badly injured dog behind. Blackey died from his injuries.

After Santa Ana Police released surveillance footage seeking the public’s help identifying the woman, the disturbing video quickly circulated across social media and was picked up by news outlets across the country and overseas. Online commenters demanded that the driver be identified and prosecuted, while local social-media users shared descriptions of the vehicle and urged others to help police.

And the internet manhunt didn’t last long.

By Thursday, police had arrested 75-year-old Hahn Nguyen on suspicion of animal cruelty and animal abandonment. Investigators said automated license-plate-reader technology helped them identify the Honda Odyssey and trace it to Nguyen. Police said she acknowledged that Blackey was her puppy and that she had abandoned him. However, she didn’t admit to running him over.

License-plate readers have certainly generated controversy – particularly when the technology is misused by people who have no business accessing or exploiting the data. But cases like Blackey’s show the other side of the technology. Police across the country use the cameras to help locate missing and endangered people, track stolen vehicles and identify suspects wanted for serious crimes. This time, the digital trail helped turn a disturbing viral video into an arrest – and helped get justice moving for a puppy who couldn’t speak for himself.