Stolen Skip Loader and Honda Recovered by Southern California Agencies Using LoJack
- June 11, 2012
- recovery stories
On May 9, 2012, the owners contacted the Riverside Sheriff’s Department’s Jurupa Station to report that their 2001 New Holland Skip Loader had been stolen several days earlier. The police prepared a theft report and had the equipment’s information entered into the state and federal crime computer databases. This routine police action that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle, prompting the transponder to begin emitting a silent homing signal.
Six minutes later, several police agencies began picking up the equipment’s LoJack homing signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTCs) installed in their patrol cars. Following the directional signal on the PTC, the officers isolated the signal to Base Line Avenue and Alder Street in the city of Fontana. Auto Theft Task Force Investigators from SANCATT and Riverside Auto Theft Interdiction Detail (RAID) took over the investigation locating the skip loader – in the process of being repainted – in an open-sided building on a very large parcel of property. San Bernardino County’s Sheriff’s Department’s Helicopter 40-KING also assisted in the tracking and provided air coverage for the ground units as they were detaining a number of people at the location. At the scene, police observed numerous other similar tractors and vehicles, but all were found not to be stolen; however, they did locate a 1995 Honda reported salvaged with a recent Pomona stolen engine installed located on the property. The Honda was impounded along with the skip loader. The ongoing investigation is being handled by SANCATT Investigators.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the loader in June 2001 in Fontana, California.