Toyota RAV4 Borrowed by a Friend in Manchester, NH — Found Hours Later in Chelsea, MA
- March 14, 2012
- recovery stories
On the morning of February 1, 2012, a resident of Manchester, New Hampshire, lent his leased 2011 Toyota RAV4 to a friend. A few hours later, the friend returned the keys to the vehicle after using it; however, when the victim went outside later that day, he discovered that the Toyota was not parked where his friend had told him it was. He immediately went to the friend’s apartment and asked him where he had parked the car. They both went out to the spot and looked around in the parking lot but were unable to locate the Toyota.
The victim then immediately contacted the Manchester Police Department to report the apparent theft. A responding officer took a stolen vehicle report and relayed the information to the department’s computer operator. The operator entered the RAV4’s information into the state and federal crime computer databases. This routine entry automatically activated the hidden LoJack Transponder in the stolen RAV4, causing it to begin transmitting a silent homing signal.
Less than three hours later, officers from the Chelsea (MA) Police Department began picking up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen RAV4 on Police Tracking Computers installed in their police vehicles. One of the officers received a very strong signal in the area of Central Street, and by utilizing computer prompts, was able to successfully track and quickly locate the unoccupied and undamaged stolen vehicle, parked on Riverside Drive. The officer had the vehicle towed from the scene and held for safekeeping until the Manchester Police Department could notify the victim of its safe recovery.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Toyota RAV4 at the owner’s request on November 10, 2010.