Thief Steals Honda Accord with Broken Pair of Scissors — Sister Aids Police with His Arrest
- April 29, 2012
- recovery stories
On March 27, 2012, the owner of a 1997 Honda Accord reported the vehicle stolen to the El Segundo Police Department. El Segundo Police prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the vehicle’s information entered into the California and federal crime computer databases – a routine police action that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed within the Honda.
Five minutes later, officers with the Hawthorne Police Department picked up the Honda’s silent LoJack signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and signal strength cues on the computers, they tracked the signal to a residence in the 10100 block of Dalerose Avenue. There, they observed the vehicle parked and unoccupied in the driveway of the residence. The officers notified the El Segundo Police, and a Detectives Unit and patrol units responded to the location. They knocked on the door of the residence and spoke with a witness, who advised the detective that her brother brought the Honda to the residence that morning. She stated that she did not know where her brother was at the time, but would notify the detectives upon his return. The Honda was impounded for fingerprinting, along with a broken piece of scissors that the suspect used to force the ignition to start.
The next day, the sister called the detectives, and informed them that her brother was asleep in her house. The detectives responded to the scene, arrested the suspect, and located the other part of the broken scissors in his pocket. The suspect admitted to stealing the vehicle, with the help of another individual. The suspect was arrested for Grand Theft Auto. El Segundo Detectives are conducting the follow-up investigation.