"Friend" Fails to Return Mercedes Benz, Vehicle Recovered by Fort Meyers Police Using LoJack
- August 16, 2012
- recovery stories
On Tuesday afternoon, June 26, 2012, the owner of a 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL500 2-door coupe contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to report their vehicle stolen. The owner explained how four days ago, he had loaned a “friend” his Mercedes. In exchange, the “friend” had left a Toyota Camry for the Mercedes owner to use. On June 23, the Mercedes owner was involved in a crash with the Toyota and called his “friend” to inform him. Angered, the “friend” responded that he wouldn’t return his Mercedes to him.
Lee County deputies verified the theft and had the Mercedes’ information entered into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle.
Later that evening, an officer with the Fort Meyers Police Department picked up the Mercedes’ silent LoJack homing signal on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking computer (PTC). Following the directional and audible cues on their PTCs, the officer, along with backup from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, located the vehicle in the 17300 block of Meadow Lake Circle, in Fort Meyers. The vehicle was recovered, released to the owner at the scene, and removed from federal and state crime computer systems. A “pickup order” for the suspect (“friend”) was issued, whereupon the suspect will be arrested when law enforcement makes contact with him.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Mercedes-Benz SL500 on October 31, 2002 by Mercedes-Benz of Fort Myers, and has been protecting it ever since.