Uncle Stolen Niece's Honda Accord — Recovered Quickly, Abandoned, at Shopping Mall
- May 25, 2012
- recovery stories
On Monday morning, March 26, 2012, the owner of a 2007 Honda Accord 4-door sedan contacted the West Palm Beach Police Department to report the vehicle stolen. Upon arrival at the scene, the responding officer met with the owner of the Accord, who reported that on Friday evening, she left her home and went out for the evening. When she returned, she discovered her vehicle missing. She also learned that her uncle had come over to visit her grandmother, whom she lives with, and suggested that the uncle might have taken the car with the keys that she left in the house. The owner made numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the uncle and locate her vehicle, but was left with no alternative but to report the vehicle stolen.
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.
Minutes later, a Miami-Dade Police Department officer received the Honda’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 officer requested that the department’s aviation unit to respond to the area. After take-off from Opa Locka Airport, the pilot picked up the signal and flew directly to the vehicle, parked in a shopping center lot near Miami Gardens Drive and N.W. 57th Avenue. The pilot guided detectives into the area to set up surveillance on the abandoned vehicle; however, when no one returned for the vehicle after several hours, the surveillance was terminated. The Honda was recovered, towed to the police impound yard for safekeeping, and removed from the police computer systems.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Honda Accord on January 6, 2011 and has been protecting it ever since. Charges for the Grand Theft Auto were filed with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office.