Lee County Deputies Recover Stolen Honda Accord, Arrest Suspect for Grand Theft Auto
- August 16, 2012
- recovery stories
On Wednesday afternoon, May 23, 2012, the owner of a Honda Accord contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to report their vehicle stolen. The owner explained that he had parked his car, with the motor running, behind his place of business and went inside. When he returned, he discovered his car missing.
Lee County deputies verified the theft and had the Honda’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle.
A short while later, a deputy with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office picked up the silent LoJack homing signal from the stolen Honda on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking computer (PTC). Following the directional and audible cues on their PTC’s screen, the deputy, along with backup, located the vehicle in the driveway of a home in the 400 block of Redlin Street in North Fort Myers.
The officers established surveillance on the Honda; shortly thereafter, a subject entered the vehicle, started it and drove out of the driveway. The detectives at the scene performed a “felony stop” on the vehicle. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to the local substation of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. After the suspect’s Miranda Rights were read, the suspect stated that he had been given the car in Cape Coral to deliver the car to another location. He was told that once at that new location, the vehicle would be stripped and its parts sold off. When another detective began interviewing the suspect, the suspect changed his story. At this time, the detectives believed they had enough evidence to arrest the suspect for Grand Theft Auto and driving with a suspended license. The vehicle was recovered, towed to the police impound yard for safekeeping, and removed from federal and state crime computer systems.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Honda Accord 4-door sedan on November 22, 1999 by Bell Honda, Phoenix, Arizona, and has been protecting it ever since.