Raleigh Police Use LoJack to Recover Stolen Mercury Grand Marquis in Charlotte, Suspect ID’d
- November 5, 2012
- recovery stories
On August 22, 2012, the owner of a Mercury Grand Marquis contacted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) to report that their vehicle was stolen from a street-side parking space down the street from their residence. The doors to the vehicle were locked and the windows closed.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg 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 Mercury.
During the Democratic National Convention being held in Charlotte, additional law enforcement had been brought into Charlotte to assist during the convention. Officers from the CMPD and the Raleigh Police Department picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Mercury on the Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the CMPD officers tracked the vehicle to residential community north of I-85 and east of I-77. The vehicle was found backed into a driveway of a home on Nicholas Avenue. Officers made contact with persons at the home and were told that a named person had allegedly purchased the Mercury and asked to temporarily park the vehicle at the house.
CMPD’s investigation continues as they determine the alleged purchaser, how and when the vehicle was obtained, and who, if anyone, is criminally responsible in this case.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Mercury Grand Marquis in June 1999 at the new car’s dealership, Longwood Lincoln-Mercury in Longwood, Florida. The owner of the vehicle did not know that the vehicle was installed with a LoJack system.