San Bernardino Officers Arrest One in Chop Shop Bust, Recover Stolen Honda Civic — Thanks to LoJack
- November 18, 2012
- recovery stories
On October 10, 2012, the owner of Honda Civic contacted the San Bernardino Police Department to report the vehicle stolen. San Bernardino Police verified the theft and entered the Honda’s information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle.
A short while later, a San Bernardino Unified School District Police Officer, in the vicinity of Wall and Belle Streets in San Bernardino, picked up the silent LoJack homing signal from the stolen Honda Civic on the Police Tracking Computer installed in his patrol vehicle. He was unable to track the stolen vehicle, but initiated an information broadcast of the LoJack activation and gave its location.
Investigators assigned to the San Bernardino County Auto Theft Task Force (SANCATT) responded to the area and began tracking the LoJack signal. Following the directional and audible cues from their LoJack computer, the investigators isolated the signal to a residence in the 1400 block of Wall Street. With the assistance of San Bernardino Police Department officers, the occupant of the residence was contacted and detained.
The investigators located the stolen vehicle inside the garage, along with evidence that other vehicles might have been dismantled on the premises. One engine was identified as belonging to a 1996 Acura previously reported stolen to the San Bernardino Police. The suspect was arrested for Possession of Stolen Property and Operating a Chop Shop. This is “Chop Shop” Number 445 for LoJack of Southern California Operations.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Honda Civic nearly twenty years ago, on December 22, 1992, through California Direct Sales. Until the theft, the current owner was not aware that the Honda was equipped with a LoJack system.