BMW Stolen in San Diego Recovered Across the Border in Mexico — One Arrested for Theft
- February 7, 2012
- recovery stories
On January 19, 2012, the owner of a 2002 BMW-330I reported the vehicle stolen to the San Diego Police Department. The vehicle information was entered simultaneously into the California Stolen Vehicle System and the National Crime Information Center. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle. Neither the owner nor law enforcement had to do anything else to activate the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Network because LoJack’s interface with law enforcement is both seamless and instantaneous.
Within minutes, San Diego and Chula Vista Police Officers began to receive the silent homing signals from the stolen BMW-330I on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the tracking cues, the officers determined the vehicle was across the border in Tijuana, Mexico.
This information was relayed to Baja California Police. The following afternoon,officers in Baja California, Mexico began to track the moving BMW-330I using LoJack. The officers quickly recovered the BMW as soon as it came to a stop. One suspect was arrested and taken to police headquarters for further investigation. The BMW-330I was recovered intact and undamaged; it was stored pending return to the owner or insurance agent.
This case will be turned over to the Federal Attorney’s Office in Tijuana, for prosecution for possession of the California stolen vehicle. Investigators from Mexico and the United States will continue the investigation.