Manchester (NH) Police Use LoJack to Recover Toyota Celica Stolen in MA, Suspect Arrested
- March 7, 2013
- recovery stories
On the morning of January 2, 2013, the owner of a Toyota Celica left his residence on Blossom Street to head for work. When the owner got to where he had parked his vehicle the night before, he discovered that it was no longer there. After a quick check of the area without any success, he quickly called the Lowell Police Department to report that his vehicle was apparently stolen sometime during the overnight hours.
The Lowell Police Department verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Toyota Celica.
A short while later, officers with the Manchester (NH) Police Department, who were on patrol in the area of Central and Pine Streets, began picking up strong signals transmitting from the hidden LoJack Transponder inside the stolen Toyota on the Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the officers were able to successfully tack and then quickly locate the occupied stolen Toyota, parked on Merrimack Street. As the Manchester officers approached the vehicle, they found a local resident sitting in the car with the engine running and the key still in the ignition. As they were removing the suspect from the stolen vehicle, the officers were amazed to see that the vehicle’s steering wheel was sitting on the back seat with an anti-theft device still attached and locked onto it.
The officers placed the suspect under arrest on various charges, and had the vehicle towed from the recovery scene for safekeeping, until Lowell Police could notify the owner of the recovery.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Toyota Celica on November 30, 1993.