LoJack Early Warning Helps San Antonio Police Bust Theft and Drug Ring
- April 21, 2012
- recovery stories
When the owner of a 2008 Kawasaki EX250 motorcycle received an Early Warning alert from LoJack to check on the status of his motorcycle, he found the bike missing from his parking spot. Realizing that the bike had been stolen, he immediately filed a theft report with the San Antonio Police Department.
After gathering all of the information about the motorcycle and the theft, San Antonio officers entered the Kawasaki’s information into the nationwide law enforcement stolen vehicle computer system. This routine action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the motorcycle. Neither the owner nor law enforcement agents had to do anything else to activate the LoJack Vehicle Recovery System, because LoJack’s interface with law enforcement is both seamless and instantaneous.
Less than 30 minutes later, officers from the San Antonio Police Department received the silent homing signals from the Kawasaki on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) installed in their patrol cars. The officers then queried the LoJack Reply Code appearing on the PTC display screens against the police’s stolen vehicle computer system and received a full description of the Kawasaki motorcycle they were tracking. Following the directional and signal strength cues on the PTC, the officers tracked the motorcycle to a garage in a residential area.
Auto theft officers arrived at the scene and gained consent to search from the owner of the residence. Their search uncovered the Kawasaki motorcycle, and two additional sports bikes that were in the process of being disassembled. Officers also recovered marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and $3,500 in cash. Four suspects were arrested and will be charged with various charges of possession of drugs and felony theft.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed at the original owner’s request in May 2011.