A man stopped for a minor traffic violation was convicted of murder thanks to his tattoos!

Anthony Garcia was a gang member of Rivera-13 in L.A. Pictures of his tattoos were taken after a minor traffic violation by shear routine. Police routinely take pictures of gang tattoos and archive them, because they can depict stories or information about the gang or crimes. 

A homicide detective was randomly flipping through pictures when he ran across the photo of Garcia and recognized the tattoo as a specific murder that had taken place 7 years earlier. The case was completely cold until he ran across the photo. The tattoo depicts the liquor store where the man was murdered. The man was drawn as a peanut which is gang slang for a rival gang member. 

The peanut was being hit by bullets in front of the liquor store by a helicopter. Apparently, Garcia's nickname was 'Chopper.' The detective helped set up a sting to get Garcia to confess to the murder. He was tried and convicted for the murder of John Juarez. 

(Source)