LoJack Early Warning Enables Atwater Police to Recover Stolen Chevrolet Silverado, Arrest 3 for Vehicle Theft
- December 3, 2012
- recovery stories
In the early morning hours of November 27, 2012, the owner of a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck received a phone call from the LoJack Early Warning Alert System, notifying him that his vehicle may have been stolen. The owner immediately checked and discovered that his pickup was missing from his driveway. The victim immediately contacted the Turlock Police and reported the theft.
Turlock Police verified the theft and had the Chevrolet’s information entered into the state and federal crime computer systems. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle. Neither the owners nor law enforcement had to do anything else to activate the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Transponder because LoJack’s interface with law enforcement is both seamless and instantaneous.
Within minutes, an officer with the Atwater Police Department began to receive the silent LoJack signal from the stolen pickup on the Police Tracking Computer installed in his patrol vehicle. Following the directional and signal strength cues on the LoJack computer, the officer tracked the vehicle to a convenience market near Applegate and Bell Streets in Atwater. There, the officer observed the pickup, parked with a male seated in the driver’s seat. He observed two females standing outside of the vehicle; all three were detained for investigation.
The officer contacted the owner to tell him of the recovery. At that time, the owner informed the officer that he has a video system installed above his driveway and in reviewing the video he saw the theft in action. In the video, a black vehicle pulled up and dropped off the two female suspects. The women entered his new Toyota Prius, but couldn’t get it into gear. They then discovered the spare keys to the pickup truck in the Prius’ console, exited the vehicle, entered the pickup and drove away.
All three suspects were arrested for auto theft. The male was on probation for auto theft and one female was a parolee on parole for auto theft.
The victim responded to Atwater, took possession of his pickup, and drove it home.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Silverado in December of 2009 at Smith Chevrolet Turlock.