Fresno County Air & Ground Units Use LoJack to Recover Stolen Tahoe, 2 Arrested After Pursuit
- January 17, 2013
- recovery stories
On December 20, 2012 the owner of a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe contacted the Fresno Police Department to report that his vehicle was stolen from in front of his residence. The Fresno Police verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Chevrolet.
About 40 minutes later, the flight crew of Eagle 1, a LoJack-equipped MD500 helicopter operated by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Chevrolet on the Police Tracking Computer installed in the aircraft. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computer, the flight crew tracked the moving vehicle to the vicinity of Herndon and El Capitan Avenues in northwest Fresno. The flight crew spotted the vehicle and began following it, updating their direction of travel to members of Fresno HEAT, the Fresno County auto theft task force. When the two male suspects in the vehicle realized that they were being followed by the helicopter, they abandoned the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. HEAT team investigators arrived on the scene, pursued the suspects on foot, and apprehended the two men.
The vehicle was recovered intact and undamaged; it was released to the owner at the recovery scene.
The suspects admitted involvement in the theft and were also found to be in possession of property that had been removed from the vehicle. One suspect was arrested for vehicle theft and possession of stolen property. The second suspect was arrested for vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, narcotics possession, two traffic warrants and a felony bench warrant for domestic violence.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Tahoe in October of 2006 by Martin Chevrolet in Torrance, California. This vehicle is valued at $24,450.