LoJack Helps CHP Recover Stolen Airman Air Compressor, Thieves Attempting to Export it to Mexico
- November 13, 2012
- recovery stories
On October 24, 2012, an electric company employee, in charge of a 2007 Airman CE-PDS 185S Air Compressor contacted the Chula Vista Police Department to report the construction equipment stolen from the street near his residence.
Chula Vista Police Department verified the theft and entered the compressor’s information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Airman Compressor.
In less than an hour, officers from California Highway Patrol – San Diego Area and the San Diego Police Department picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Airman Compressor on the Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the officers tracked the construction equipment to a commercial long-term parking lot at Camino De La Plaza in San Ysidro. The Compressor was parked toward the rear of the parking lot, hidden between other commercial vehicles. The parking lot supervisor informed the officers that the cameras installed in the parking lot showed that the compressor was towed inside the parking lot by a red pickup truck at approximately 5:30 in the morning.
Investigators from the California Highway Patrol Auto Theft Unit responded to handle the investigation. While waiting for the owners of the compressor to respond to the scene, the investigators observed an employee for an export company from Mexico hitch the compressor and began to drive away. The driver was detained and questioned. Investigators are continuing the investigation to determine the identity of the suspect(s) who stole the compressor and were attempting to export it to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
The electric company employee was very happy when California Highway Patrol contacted him to recover the undamaged compressor, valued at $13,000.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Airman Compressor on July 02, 2008 at Select Electric in Spring Valley, California.