LAPD Uses LoJack to Recover Toyota Highlander Stolen from Hospital Parking Lot, One Arrested
- October 3, 2012
- recovery stories
On September 9, 2012, the owner of 2007 Toyota Highlander contacted the Los Angeles Police Department’s Mission Division to report that his vehicle was stolen from the parking lot at the hospital where he works.
LAPD officers verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Toyota.
Officers from the LAPD’s West Valley Division picked up the silent LoJack homing signal from the stolen Toyota on the Police Tracking Computer installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computer, the officers tracked and located the stolen vehicle parked on the grass at a vacant house in the area of the 7400 block of Nestle Avenue. Officers set up a perimeter around the stolen vehicle and observed the vehicle for a short while. They soon observed two suspects enter the vehicle and begin to drive away; the officers conducted a vehicle traffic stop and took the driver into custody for auto theft-related charges. Further investigation revealed that a female suspect was at the hospital earlier in the day, and had stolen the keys from the victim’s bag. The vehicle, valued at $23,825, was recovered and impounded for safekeeping.
The owner of the vehicle told the investigating officer that purchasing a LoJack system was the best investment that he had ever made. The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in this vehicle on June 9, 2012 at Northridge Toyota in Northridge, California.