Philadelphia Aviation Officers Recover Chevrolet Impala Stolen from Norristown Train Station
- June 12, 2012
- recovery stories
On May 11, 2012, the owner of a 2002 Chevrolet Impala parked his vehicle at the Norristown Train Station and commuted to work. When the owner returned to the station after work that evening, he discovered the vehicle stolen and immediately called 911 to report the theft.
Norristown Police Radio dispatched an officer to investigate the incident. The officer arrived on site, interviewed the victim 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 Impala’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Impala, prompting it to begin emitting a silent homing signal.
A few minutes later, officers assigned to the Philadelphia Police Aviation Division reported that the LoJack Tracking Computer in the Police Airship had activated as they patrolled over Philadelphia. This activation alerted the officers that a LoJack-equipped stolen vehicle was in the area. When the officers called the LoJack code into Philadelphia Police Radio, they were quickly informed that they were tracking the stolen Chevrolet.
Following the directional cues on the aircraft’s computer, the officers tracked the signal to the area of 23rd Street in North Philadelphia. The aviation officers related their situation to Philadelphia Police Radio, who dispatched marked police vehicles to assist. The ground units quickly located the parked Impala; officers cautiously approached the vehicle and determined that it was unoccupied.
Members of the Philadelphia Police Major Crimes Auto Squad were in the area and monitoring the transmissions from Police Radio. A detective arrived at the recovery location and took over the investigation of the incident. The stolen vehicle was confiscated to be processed for physical evidence and the Norristown Police were notified of the circumstances surrounding the stolen vehicle recovery.