Thief Claimed to Have Purchased Honda Accord — Arrested for Grand Theft Auto
- May 25, 2012
- recovery stories
On Tuesday evening, April 3, 2012, the owner of a 1996 Honda Accord 4-door sedan contacted the Hialeah Police Department to the vehicle stolen. Upon arrival at the scene, the responding officer met with the owner of the Accord, who reported that while he was at the library, someone had stolen the Honda from where it was parked.
The officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the Honda’s information entered into the federal and state crime computers. This routine police procedure automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Accord.
Later that evening, a Miami-Dade Police Department officer received the Honda’s silent LoJack signal. Following the directional and signal strength cues on their patrol car’s LoJack Police Tracking Computer, the officer, along with backup, located the sedan in the driveway of a house in the 9000 block of N.W. 32nd Court. The officer made contact with the occupant of the house, who told the officer that he had purchased the vehicle earlier in the day for $1400.00 and his own car. Upon being asked for the vehicle registration and title, the subject remarked that he didn’t have any paperwork as he still owed addition monies to the person who sold him the car. The officer requested that an auto theft detective respond to the scene. Upon arrival at the scene, the detective inspected the vehicle and the keys that the subject had in his possession. The detective discovered that the key that the subject only worked the ignition and not the doors or trunk. The subject was arrested for Grand Theft Auto and ultimately transported to the Dade County Jail. The Honda was recovered, released to the owner at the scene, and removed from the police computer system.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in this Honda Accord on July 8, 1996, and has been protecting it ever since.