Recovery of Stolen Lexus Enables LASD to Solve 2 Vehicle Thefts & 4 Burglaries
- June 11, 2012
- recovery stories
On May 9, 2012, the owner of a 2004 Lexus RX300 reported the vehicle stolen to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Altadena Station. The Lexus’s information was entered into the stolen state and federal crime computer systems – a routine police action that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Lexus, prompting it to begin emitting a silent homing signal.
A short time later, deputies from the Altadena Station were on patrol and picked up the Lexus’ silent LoJack signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC) installed in their patrol vehicle. After obtaining the description of the vehicle, the officers followed the directional cues on the PTC to locate the Lexus, parked and unoccupied in the 2200 block of East Washington Boulevard.
The deputies set up surveillance and while watching for any suspects, observed a 2005 Ford Escape pull up and park behind the stolen Lexus. The vehicle contained several subjects, who exited and began entering a nearby residence. Deputies verified the license plate number of the Ford and noted that it, too, had recently been stolen in Altadena. Deputies converged upon the suspects and apprehended several men. The deputies contacted the LA County TRAP detectives and requested that they assist. The San Gabriel Valley TRAP team responded and took over the investigation. They were able to identify the suspects’ homes, and inside, they located both keys to the stolen vehicles and stolen property – including a laptop computer and an iPad – stolen earlier from unlocked vehicles in Crescenta Valley and Altadena.
The suspects admitted that they had been stealing from unlocked vehicles on numerous occasions over the past months. As a result of this incident, two burglaries were cleared in La Crescenta, two in Altadena, as well as both vehicle thefts. The suspects were booked for several felony charges pending a criminal complaint by the DDA. The investigation remains ongoing.