“Friend” Steals Mercury Grand Marquis Before Getting Arrested for Grand Theft Auto
- April 23, 2012
- recovery stories
On Thursday, February 2, 2012, the owner of a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis 4-door sedan contacted the Hallandale Beach Police Department to report the vehicle stolen. Upon arrival at the scene, the responding officer met with the owner, who stated that he had entertained a “friend” the previous night, and when he woke up the next day, his “friend” was missing – along with his cell phone, car keys and car. The officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the Mercury’s information entered into the federal and state crime computers. This routine police procedure automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Mercury Grand Marquis.
Later that afternoon, a Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputy received the Mercury’s silent LoJack signal, and began tracking it by following the directional and signal strength cues on his patrol car’s LoJack Police Tracking Computer. Shortly thereafter, the deputy, along with backup, located the sedan in the parking lot of a jail facility in the 2400 block of N.W. 16th Street. Police established surveillance on the Mercury, and when a suspect entered the vehicle, the deputies converged upon the vehicle and arrested the suspect for Grand Theft Auto.
The Mercury was recovered, towed to the police impound yard for safekeeping, and removed from the police computer systems. The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Police Recovery System was installed in this Mercury Grand Marquis on September 16, 1999 and has been protecting it ever since. It should be noted that this is the second time that this vehicle has been stolen and recovered with the use of the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Police Recovery system. The last time was on July 30, 2009.