Tulare Police Recover Mercedes Stolen in Residential Burglary — Juvenile Suspect Detained
- January 19, 2012
- recovery stories
Vehicle: 2007 Mercedes Benz SLK280
Activation: Tulare Police Department – January 3, 2012 7:55 p.m.
Recovery: Tulare County Sheriff’s Department – January 3, 2012 8:13 p.m.
Dealership: Fletcher Jones Mercedes – Las Vegas, Nevada
On the night of January 3, 2012, the owner of a 2007 Mercedes Benz SLK280 discovered that his home had been burglarized. In the robbery, the thieves stole guns, electronic equipment and the Mercedes Benz. The victim immediately contacted the Tulare Police Department to report the theft.
Tulare Police responded to the scene, prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the stolen vehicle’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Mercedes and initiated the tracking of the vehicle.
Just eighteen minutes after activation, a deputy from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department began to receive the silent signal from the stolen Mercedes on his onboard LoJack Police Tracking Computer. The deputy ran the reply code that appeared on his display screen and received the stolen vehicle information and a description of the vehicle. Following the tracking cues, the deputy tracked the Mercedes to the area of Earlimart and Marin Avenues in the city of Earlimart. There, he located the vehicle with a juvenile suspect inside; the suspect was detained by police.
Investigators from TRATT, the county auto theft task force, responded to assist in the investigation. The suspect was questioned and admitted involvement in the burglary and vehicle theft. The suspect agreed to cooperate with investigators and ultimately, all of the items stolen in the burglary were recovered. The stolen Mercedes was recovered intact and undamaged; it was stored pending release to the owner.
There has been a series of similar residential burglaries/vehicle thefts in the Tulare area in the past three weeks. The suspect in this case is now under investigation for those crimes as well.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System unit was installed in the Mercedes Benz in March of 2007.