Philadelphia Police Quickly Track and Recover Stolen Dodge Pickup Using LoJack
- June 7, 2012
- recovery stories
On Tuesday, May 1, 2012, the owner of a 1999 Dodge pickup truck discovered that vehicle had been stolen from a parking space in Northeast Philadelphia.
The owner called 911 and Philadelphia Police Radio dispatched a 15th District Officer to investigate the incident. The officer arrived on location, interviewed the owner and surveyed the area for the subject vehicle. When the vehicle could not be located, the officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the Dodge’s information entered into the Philadelphia and federal police computer databases. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed within the Dodge, prompting it to emit a silent homing signal.
Minutes later, officers with the Philadelphia Police Department’s 35th District began to receive the Dodge’s silent homing signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional cues on their computers, the officers tracked the signal to the area of 600 Annsbury Street, where they observed the parked vehicle. The officers cautiously approached the stolen pickup and determined that it was unoccupied.
Members of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Major Crimes Auto Squad were on duty and monitoring the situation via Police Radio. The Squad’s investigators assumed control of the investigation and had the pickup towed to Philadelphia Police Major Crimes Auto Squad Headquarters to be processed for physical evidence.
The owner was notified regarding the vehicle’s recovery, and the incident remains under investigation by the members of the Philadelphia Police Major Crimes Auto Squad.