Philadelphia Police Recover Stolen Lexus Hybrid SUV in Minutes — Suspect Arrested
- February 21, 2012
- recovery stories
On the morning of February 12012, the custodian of a company vehicle — a 2006 Lexus RX400H — discovered that the vehicle had been stolen in the northwest section of Philadelphia. The victim called 911 and Philadelphia Police Radio dispatched a 14th District Officer to investigate the incident. The officer arrived on location, interviewed the complainant and surveyed the area for the subject vehicle. When the vehicle could not be located, the assigned officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and arranged to have the VIN entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Lexus and initiated the tracking of the vehicle.
Within minutes, Philadelphia Police 35th District Officers began to receive the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Lexus on the LoJack Tracking Computers installed in thier patrol vehicles. After obtaining a description of the stolen vehicle, they followed the computer’s cues and tracked the moving vehicle through the 35th district to the area of Broad Street and Windrim Avenue. Uniformed and investigative officers converged on the area, pulled in behind the stolen vehicle, and signaled with overhead and lights to request the driver to pull over. The driver of the stolen Lexus came to a stop, and the officers quickly placed him under arrest.
The perpetrator was transported to Philadelphia Police Northwest Detective Division, where a Philadelphia Police Detective was assigned to the investigation. The perpetrator was charged with numerous violations of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code related to theft.
The grateful owner of the Lexus was transported by police to the scene to retrieve her vehicle.