Prison Escapee, Wanted on Felony Warrant, Nabbed by Colorado Police for Theft of Mitsubishi Lancer
- May 15, 2012
- recovery stories
On the morning of April 17, 2012, while on routine, patrol officers with the Louisville, Westminster and Northglenn Police Departments picked up the silent homing signals from a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer that had been reported stolen in Longmont, CO minutes earlier.
When the theft was reported, the Longmont Police Department completed a stolen vehicle report and had the Mitsubishi’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed within the Mitsubishi; the transponder then began to emit a silent homing signal to patrol cars in the local area. The police officers received these signals on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTCs) installed in their patrol vehicles, enabling them to quickly locate the stolen vehicle and with an increased margin of safety.
Following the directional cues on their PTC, officers with the Northglenn Police Department tracked the Mitsubishi to a RTD Park-n-Ride parking lot near I-25 and Melody. There, they located the stolen Lancer being driven around in the parking lot by a lone suspect. When he saw the converging police vehicles, the suspect jumped from the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot, but he was quickly apprehended.
Investigation revealed that the suspect was an escapee from the Colorado Department of Corrections who was also wanted on a felony warrant from Boulder County. The police were relieved to have removed the suspect from the vicinity before he could commit any further crimes or cause damage among the vacant vehicles at the Park-n-Ride lot.
The slightly-damaged Lancer was returned to its very happy owner, who had the LoJack Vehicle Recovery System installed in the vehicle nine years earlier in California.