Anaheim Police Air Angel Locates Stolen Honda Odyssey, Parolee Arrested
- February 23, 2012
- recovery stories
On the night of February 9, 2012, the owner of a 2000 Honda Odyssey reported his vehicle stolen to the Anaheim Police Department. The owner reported that he had left his keys in the vehicle while working at a local car wash. Anaheim officers obtained the vehicle information and had their records division enter this information into the state and federal crime computer databases. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Odyssey and initiated the tracking of the minivan.
Minutes later, Anaheim Police Department Air Angel flight officers received the silent LoJack signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer in their helicopter, tracked the stolen minivan to the area of Gramercy Avenue and Greenacre Avenue, and broadcasted this information to local ground units. A few minutes later, a sergeant located the unoccupied vehicle, parked in the 600 block of Ventura St, a short distance from Gramercy Ave. The flight officers maintained a high surveillance of the area, and quickly noticed the vehicle traveling southbound on Ventura Street.
Units waiting in the area caught up to the vehicle and executed a felony traffic stop, taking the driver into custody without further incident. The suspect, a parolee, told the officers that he had seen the vehicle parked with the keys inside on his street and moved it so he and his friends would not get the blame because he knew it was stolen. A glass pipe was found in his possession. A no-bail parolee hold was later obtained on this suspect, in addition to his felony charges for vehicle theft.
The original owner of this Honda had the LoJack Vehicle Recovery System installed at Honda World, Westminster in April of 2000.