Is there a legal way to do a reverse license plate lookup?

We had a creepy, illegally tinted van show up in our neighborhood a few times. I want to find out who the guy is. He threatened to shoot me when I knocked on his window. Is there a legal way to get this info?

If taking the high risk of approaching random shady looking vans wear a body cam. They sell them online. Or at least have your cell phone recording video and put it in a shirt pocket to act like a body cam. Live stream if possible in case they take or smash your phone. Others should also be recording you at a distance in case shady person drops you. Give the footage to the local authorities. I personally would also mention to dispatch that due to the dark windows you could not tell if they have a firearm. Other potential advice would depend on the laws of where you reside.

Why would public information be illegal? Doesn't the guy use the roads you pay taxes for? When someone threatens you call the cops if you're unarmed.

Take a picture of the vehicle. Call the police non-emergency number. Tell them you saw a suspicious vehicle and when you approached, the driver threatened you. Let the police handle the rest.

I'm sorry, what is a "creepy van"? What sort of crime is "showing up in our neighborhood"? Is it a private gated neighbourhood that outsiders aren't allowed into? What's the problem here? The way I read this you were made that some guy drove a van and he didn't actually do anything wrong until after you bothered him.

a private eye in most states can legally access the plate info so you could hire one, if it seems worth it. in line with the other posts, though this might be better for the police. this is probably really the way to go due to the threats. i mean, so what if you get a name and an address - then what? you were already threatened.

but in the cheaper, but legally grey area, you can usually lookup a plate for a few dollars if you have a "legitimate reason" such as the creep damaged your property or theft. that's a he-said-she-said thing, so ...

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/request-for-record-inform...

of course this is USA, California. Other US states are mostly similar.

there are 100s of online sites that are "private detectives" that will run a plate for a slightly larger fee. this may be faster and less grey than diy dmv requests.

if you are a real karen/ken you can post a pic of the van and plate to nextdoor, etc. and make a big post about the creepy van.

The whole karen neighborhood culture is annoying, if they did something illegal call the police, problem is if they are normal people you are annoying them, if they are dangerous, well..