Toyota Prius Stolen in Wilmington, NC, Recovered by North Carolina Police Using LoJack
- November 5, 2012
- recovery stories
On August 26, 2012, the owner of a 2001Toyota Prius contacted the Wilmington Police Department to report the vehicle stolen. No witness or suspect information was known. No keys were missing and the Prius was believed to have been locked.
Wilmington 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 Toyota Prius.
A short while later, investigators with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, License and Theft Bureau picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Toyota on the Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the License and Theft Bureau investigators tracked the vehicle in the northern section of New Hanover County, near a community called Castle Hayne, just west of I-40. The vehicle was found abandoned off Castle Hayne Road. Investigators made contact with the surrounding property owners; however, no one knew anything about the vehicle. The vehicle was towed and stored until the owner could take possession of the Toyota.
The Wilmington Police Department investigation remains open.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Toyota Prius in August of 2001 at Ourisman Fairfax Toyota in Fairfax, Virginia.