Opportunistic Thieves Steal BMW After Finding Keys in Another Vehicle — Police Recover Undamaged Vehicle in Hours
- February 2, 2012
- recovery stories
On the evening of January 14, 2012, thieves committing car prowls broke into a van parked next to a BMW X5 in the 12600 block of SE 78th Place in Newcastle. Inside the van, they found a set of keys to the BMW, which they then stole. When the owner discovered the vehicle missing, he contacted the King County Sheriff’s Office to report the theft.
The reporting officer responded to the scene, prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the stolen BMW’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the BMW and initiated the tracking of the vehicle.
Less than three hours later, a Seattle Police Department K9 unit, just coming on shift, received the silent LoJack signal transmitting from the stolen BMW on the Police Tracking Computer in his patrol car. The officer followed the audio and visual cues on the Tracker display and located the abandoned vehicle at SE 80th and 126th Avenue SE, not far from the theft location. The BMW did not appear to be damaged. The owner was called to retrieve his vehicle
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the BMW X5 in May of 2010 when it was purchased as a used vehicle.