LoJack Helps Washington State Patrol Aviation & District Troopers Recover Stolen Kubota Tractor & Trailer
- November 26, 2012
- recovery stories
During the late evening to early morning hours of November 4-5, thieves broke into an equipment storage area at a Home Depot store in Longview, Washington. They cut cables and locks securing a two-axle equipment trailer and a 2012 Kubota BX25 tractor equipped with a backhoe and front-end loader. When store employees discovered the theft the next morning, they reported the crime to the Longview Police Department. Longview officers verified the theft and had the Kubota’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the tractor.
The machine was taken to a rural part of Lewis County and escaped detection until a Washington State Patrol trooper received the silent LoJack homing signal transmitting from the stolen Kubota on the Police Tracking Computer installed in his patrol car the morning of November 7th. The information was relayed to other troopers and to the WSP Aviation Section. A pilot in a Cessna equipped with a LoJack Tracker and troopers on the ground assisted by a Lewis County deputy isolated the signal to a field off Jackson Highway, north of SR508 in a rural area south of Chehalis. The machine was located, covered with a silver tarp. One occupant living in a motorhome on the property was questioned and provided leads on suspects. Officers also recovered a motorcycle stolen from Oregon and three others that are being investigated as possible stolens. The approximate value of the Kubota and trailer is $35,000.
The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System was installed in this Kubota tractor in February of 2012 at Compact Power Equipment NW in Gresham, Oregon.