LoJack Helps University Fullerton Police Recover Saturn “Stolen” When Friend Borrowed Wrong Car
- January 22, 2013
- recovery stories
On December 17, 2012, the owner of a 2001 Saturn LS contacted the State University Police Department to report that their vehicle was stolen from the university parking lot in Fullerton, California.
State University 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 Saturn.
Minutes later, detectives from an auto theft unit picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Saturn on the Police Tracking Computer installed in his undercover police vehicle. The detectives tracked the signal to a street located in the City of Orange and notified Orange Police Department detectives, who responded to the location and set up surveillance on the vehicle. A short while later, a male suspect returned to the vehicle and was taken into custody. The detectives’ investigation revealed that the suspect had borrowed a friend’s Saturn while at school. He went out to the parking lot, observed a white Saturn, tried the key (which, amazingly, fit) and drove away. The story was verified by trying the key in both vehicles and talking to the friend who had loaned him his vehicle. The suspect was not arrested.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the 2001 Saturn LS in November of 2001 at Saturn of Alhambra. The vehicle was valued at $4,300.