NYPD Officers Track Stolen Honda Civic to Chop Shop in Queens, 1 Arrested
- July 22, 2012
- recovery stories
On June 25 2012, the owner of a Honda Civic contacted the NYPD’s 115th Precinct in East Elmhurst, Queens to report that his vehicle was stolen from in front of his house. NYPD officers verified the theft and had the Honda’s information entered into the state and federal crime computer systems, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Honda.
A short while later, officers with the Queens North Auto Larceny Unit picked up the silent LoJack homing signal from the stolen Honda on their Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicle. Following the directional and the audible cues from their LoJack tracking computer, the officers tracked the vehicle to a residential street in East Elmurst. There, they located the vehicle in the backyard of a private house, and discovered that a man was in the process of stripping the vehicle. The officers immediately placed the suspect under arrest and took the vehicle into custody.
The vehicle was recovered partially stripped; however, all the parts were still at the scene. The owner was notified, and he was elated that his vehicle was recovered, despite its dismantled condition. The owner had been unaware that the direct sales unit had installed the LoJack Vehicle Recovery System in the Honda, but was pleased to know that it had been.