Utah Highway Patrol Uses LoJack to Recover Mercedes Benz Stolen in American Fork, One Arrested
- December 2, 2012
- recovery stories
On November 16, 2012, the owners of a Mercedes-Benz ML3 SUV reported their vehicle stolen to the American Fork Police Department in Utah County, Utah. After verifying the theft, American Fork Police entered the vehicle information into the Utah State and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Mercedes-Benz. At the time of the theft, the owners were unaware that a LoJack stolen vehicle recovery system had been installed in the SUV at the request of previous owners.
A short while later, troopers with the Utah Highway Patrol working in Utah County began picking up the silent LoJack signal coming from the stolen SUV on the Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol cars. Following the directional and audible cues on the LoJack computers, the troopers tracked the stolen SUV to a storage facility near Highland Boulevard & SR-92.
The suspect saw the troopers arrive and attempted to escape in the stolen vehicle by ramming the front gate to the storage facility. The suspect later crashed during his escape attempt and was injured. After being released from the hospital, troopers arrested him on multiple felony charges.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed 14 years ago, on November 13, 1998 by Penske Motorcars in West Covina, California.