NESCOPECK - Shortly after Pennsylvania State Police issued an Amber Alert on Friday for an abducted 3-year-old girl, authorities entered the fleeing car's license plate number into a database linked to toll plazas.

Police were notified when the license scanned as belonging to the suspect - the girl's father - drove into New York City. An Amber Alert had been sounded across New York as well.A civilian in New York soon spotted the car, notified a traffic cop and the New York Police Department was summoned to rescue the girl and arrest the father."Here he is two states away and, within a few hours, we had him in custody," said Sgt. James Dunleavy, station commander for state police at Shickshinny, which investigated the abduction. "Because of that (license plate scan) process, we were able to know where he was going. We just had to catch up to him."Those involved in triggering the Amber Alert and in rescuing Ava Byrne on Monday said the emergency alert system worked exactly as it should."There was great cooperation between the people who coordinate Amber Alert and the other agencies in New Jersey and New York," Dunleavy said.Police say they feared Ava was in danger because her father, Robert Byrne, 34, threatened a murder-suicide when he escaped the family's Nescopeck home shortly after midnight Friday. He is accused of slapping his girlfriend, who is eight months pregnant, in the face and punching her in the stomach before fleeing with the girl in a silver Hyundai Elantra.Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Robert Levan, the state's Amber Alert coordinator, was scheduled for a day off Friday, but worked the Amber Alert case all day."Whenever we have a successful resolution, it's fantastic," Levan said. "I was on the phone all day until that child was recovered."Levan said there is strict criteria for an Amber Alert to be issued - depending on the level of danger the child is in or whether there is specific information available about an abductor.Only a select few people in the state police are tasked with vetting and releasing the information, he said."We try to avoid desensitizing the public. So when you get an Amber Alert, you know it's serious," Levan said.State police continue to grow their working relationship with partner state agencies like the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Lottery to give a missing child's photo, as well as a perpetrator's picture, as much exposure as possible, Levan said. That relationship was developed during the manhunt for alleged cop killer Eric Frein, he said.Ava's photo, her father's picture, and a detailed description of the getaway car were circulated on billboards, at gas stations and on news websites across three states for a short time Friday afternoon.It was only a short time because a civilian in New York spotted Byrne driving his Hyundai with a Pennsylvania license plate in New York City shortly after the Amber Alert was issued there, according to news accounts in New York.Television station WABC-3 has a detailed report on its website about what occurred. The person who spotted the car notified a city traffic cop.The officer then flagged down NYPD officers, telling them Byrne was now fleeing on foot. They gave chase, caught up to Byrne and took him into custody without incident.As of Monday evening, Byrne was still being held in New York awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania on charges of simple assault, making terroristic threats and harassment.Ava's mother, Morgan, traveled to New York on Friday night to bring her home.