Anaheim and La Habra Police Use LoJack to Recover Toyota Tacoma Stolen from Dealership
- November 12, 2012
- recovery stories
In August of 2012, a dealership in Cerritos sold a used 2006 Toyota Tacoma to an individual, and received a check as partial payment. The dealership later determined that the check was bad, and the customer had given fraudulent information during the credit process. The dealership contacted the Los Angeles County Taskforce for Regional Auto Theft Prevention (LA TRAP) to report the incident.
On October 22, 2012, detectives from TRAP verified the theft and entered the Tacoma’s information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle.
Minutes after the LoJack activation, Anaheim Police Department’s Air-Angel flight officers picked up the silent LoJack signal and tracked it into the city of La Habra. Just as they notified La Habra’s Police Department of the tracking, one of the city’s ground units also picked up the LoJack signal. The ground unit isolated the signal to the driveway of a residence in the 800 block of East Rose Avenue, where they observed the unoccupied vehicle.
La Habra officers responded to the area and set up surveillance while waiting for TRAP detectives to respond. A short time later, a male subject entered the Tacoma and drove off. The ground units performed a felony traffic stop on the Tacoma at Chestnut and Pinehurst, taking the subject into custody without further incident. TRAP detectives responded and took over the investigation. Their investigation revealed that, while the driver was not the one who committed the crime, he provided details to the detectives on the suspect’s location. The driver was then released, pending further investigation.
The Tacoma, valued at $15,825, was stored for safekeeping and later released to the Cerritos dealership. Detectives anticipate that an arrest will be forthcoming.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Toyota Tacoma at Bob Smith Toyota on October 26, 2005.