Houston Police Arrest Suspect for Theft of Chevrolet Silverado, Switched VIN in Attempt to Disguise
- August 6, 2012
- recovery stories
On July 02, 2012, the owner of a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck contacted the Houston Police Department to report that his vehicle was stolen from the driveway of his residence in Houston, Texas. Houston Police verified the theft and entered the vehicle’s information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the pickup.
Later that day, an officer from the Houston Police Department’s patrol division and a Houston Police Department’s Auto Theft Task Force officer picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Chevrolet on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the officers tracked the vehicle to a residential area in Southwest Houston, where they observed the vehicle parked in a driveway. Officers questioned the owner of the residence about the vehicle, and upon inspection, discovered that a fictitious VIN had been reattached to the dash. Officers inspected the original VIN and determined that it was the stolen vehicle. The pickup truck was impounded with only minor ignition damage, and the suspect was arrested for felony theft.
Also parked beside the stolen Silverado was a second Chevrolet. Upon examination, officers determined that this vehicle had been reported stolen some time earlier to the Houston Police Department.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Silverado on July 2011 at Classic Chevrolet in Sugar Land, Texas.