Doorbell camera helps Howard County police find driver in deadly hit-and-run

ELKRIDGE, Md. - Doorbell cameras are incredibly popular, can be big deterrent to package thefts and even offer an extra layer of security for homes. However, a Howard County homeowner never expected it to help authorities solve a deadly hit-and-run case.

A dump truck struck and killed a woman on the day before Halloween in Elkridge as she got out of her parked car.

Video taken from the homeowner's security camera captured the dump truck driving away after it fatally hit 54-year-old Huma Isfahani.

Neighbors say Isfahani had been visiting friends and was getting into her parked car when she was struck.

The day after investigators posted the video, the driver saw the footage and called police.

"[An investigator] asked me to pull him a time block of video and I gave it to the police officers and they were able to post it," said the homeowner. "The person did the right thing and turned himself in."

The homeowner, who did not want to be identified, says he had just installed the camera two days earlier.

"It's a good thing. The road is pretty dark so a lot of people hit things sometimes and don't know what they hit," he said. "So for a person to have the right conscience to do the right thing, it's a good thing."

The Howard County Police Department just became the first in Maryland to partner with the Ring's video-sharing app, Neighbors, which dubs itself the "new neighborhood watch."

The app already has thousands of users in Howard County and police hope that by partnering with the community this way, these home security videos will help them solve more crimes just like this hit-and-run.

The best part is you don't have to have a Ring doorbell camera to download the app. Anyone can see and share videos along with other information with their neighbors anonymously - and get real time alerts from police.