LoJack Helps Philadelphia Air & Ground Units Recover Chevrolet Monte Carlo Stolen by Friend, 1 Arrested

Early on Sunday, February 3, 2013, the owner of a 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo invited a friend to stay overnight at his residence. Later that day, the vehicle owner awoke to discover that his friend had left the premises. The vehicle owner checked and discovered that his vehicle was no longer parked in front of his residence. The vehicle owner called 911 and Philadelphia Police Radio dispatched an officer to investigate the incident. The officer arrived on location, interviewed the victim and surveyed the area for the subject vehicle. When the vehicle could not be located, the officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the information entered into the Philadelphia Police Computer System. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the stolen Chevrolet.

A short while later, members of the Philadelphia Police Aviation Unit were on patrol over the City of Philadelphia when they began to pick up a LoJack stolen vehicle reply code on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer installed in the aircraft. Philadelphia Police Radio checked the LoJack code in the Pennsylvania State Police Computer System and then informed the aviation officers that they were tracking the stolen Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Following directions from the LoJack computer, the aviation officers tracked the signal to the Kensington section of Philadelphia. The aviation officers relayed this information to Police Radio and uniformed officers began to survey the area.

Uniformed officers observed the parked Monte Carlo in the area of Frankford Avenue and Cambria Street and approached the vehicle with caution. They observed a female seated in the passenger seat, and placed her under arrest without incident. The woman and the vehicle were transported to East Detective Division, where a Philadelphia Police Detective was assigned to the investigation. The woman was charged with violations of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code related to theft, and the owner of the vehicle was provided with all pertinent information relating to the vehicle recovery.

The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Monte Carlo on March 23, 2007 at Reedman Toll Autoworld.