Runaway Juvenile Found Asleep in Backseat of Parent’s SUV in Georgia
- March 24, 2012
- recovery stories
On February 27, 2012, the parents of a 14-year old reported to the Gwinnett County Police Department that their son had run away from home and had taken their Tahoe from the garage without permission. At the time of the theft report, the owners were unaware that a LoJack unit had been installed in the Tahoe in 2003 at a dealership in Florida.
The Gwinnett County Police gathered all of the pertinent information about the incident, and had the Tahoe’s information entered into the state and federal crime computer databases. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed within the Tahoe. Neither the owner nor law enforcement agents had to do anything else to activate the hidden transponder, because LoJack’s interface with Law Enforcement is both seamless and instantaneous.
Less than two hours later, the LoJack transponder began to emit a silent homing signal to police cars in the area equipped with LoJack Tracking Computers. A Gwinnett County Police officer began to pick up the signal, and following the computer’s directional and signal strength cues, tracked the stolen Tahoe to a rural area of Gwinnett County. There, the officer located the vehicle, parked in the driveway of an abandoned house. The missing juvenile was asleep in the back seat.
The 14-year old was transported to the juvenile detention center for the theft of the Tahoe, and charged as a runaway. The parents were very glad that their son was located with the help of LoJack and the Gwinnett County Police.