Thief Removes License Plates from Two Stolen Hondas — Evidence of Possible Auto Theft Ring
- March 28, 2012
- recovery stories
On March 7, 2012, the owner of a 1997 Honda Accord discovered that the vehicle had been stolen from his driveway sometime during the previous night, and immediately contacted the Hartford Police Department to report the theft.
Hartford Police gathered the pertinent information about the theft, prepared a stolen vehicle report, and had the Honda’s information entered into the state and federal crime databases. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Honda. Neither the owner nor law enforcement agents had to do anything else to activate the LoJack Recovery System, as LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
Minutes later, officers with the New Britain Police Department received the silent homing signals coming from the stolen Honda on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) installed in their patrol cars. After querying the LoJack code on the PTC against the police computer system, the officers received confirmation that they were tracking the stolen Honda Accord. Following the PTC’s directional and signal strength cues, the officers in the two patrol cars tracked the Honda to a parking lot adjacent to a housing project.
The Honda was backed up against a brick wall. Its front license plate had been removed and thrown onto the front floor of the stolen car. Beside the LoJack-equipped Honda was a second Honda, also backed in with its front plate removed. Investigation revealed that the second Honda was reported stolen several days earlier in the town of Bristol, with the keys in the car.
A Hartford auto theft detective responded to assist the New Britain officers; the subsequent investigation revealed that the front plates on both cars were forcibly removed in an apparent attempt to avoid detection by patrol cars equipped with License Plate Readers. There was no apparent damage to either car, although the detective determined that a “shaved key” was apparently used on the LoJack-equipped vehicle, as the ignition was not in a locked position but the key was no longer in it. The LoJack-equipped Honda was seized by Hartford police to continue the investigation into a possible Honda car theft ring in their city.