Gunman Steals Cash, Volkswagen from Sandwich Shop — Vehicle Recovered in Underground Parking Garage
- April 21, 2012
- recovery stories
On the evening of March 20, 2012, a sandwich shop in Sheridan, Colorado, was robbed by an armed gunman. The robber, in addition to stealing cash from the business, also demanded the keys to an employee’s 2000 Volkswagen Golf and drove away in it.
The victims reported the crime to the Sheridan Police Department; the responding officers gathered all pertinent information, completed a vehicle theft report and had the VW’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. It was this routine police action that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Volkswagen. No further action was required by the owner or the police, as LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
A short while later, officers with the Sheridan Police Department received the silent homing signals from the stolen vehicle on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) installed in their patrol cars. Following the directional and signal strength cues on the PTC, the officers tracked the Volkswagen to a below-ground steel and concrete parking garage several miles from the robbery. Evidence was collected from the recovered car and the crimes remain under investigation.
The owner of the Volkswagen had just purchased the vehicle, and was very pleased that the previous owner had installed the LoJack Vehicle Recovery system in the car. This is the second time that this Volkswagen has been stolen and recovered by the police using LoJack.