Stolen Toyota 4-Runner Recovered by Desert Hot Springs, California Police with Help from the LoJack® System
- April 2, 2014
- recovery stories
On a recent Friday, the owner of a Toyota 4Runner left his vehicle running and unlocked in his driveway. He was not gone very long, but long enough for a crook to slip into the driver’s seat and drive away in the SUV. It’s a good thing this victim chose to have the LoJack® system installed. With LoJack’s help, local law enforcement not only recovered the 4Runner that same day, but captured the thief as well.
On March 14th, 2014, the Toyota’s owner contacted the Indio Police Department to report the crime. Officers verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers. This procedure automatically activated the LoJack device concealed in the 4-Runner.
A short time later a Desert Hot Springs PD detective and patrol officer picked up the homing signals from the stolen SUV on the LoJack tracking computers installed in their patrol vehicles. The detective located the Toyota parked in the driveway of a vacant house. A male suspect, later identified as an active parolee who had been released from jail the previous day, was unloading sports equipment from the rear of the vehicle, and was immediately taken into custody. The equipment was identified as property of the victim. The 4Runner was retrieved and soon returned to its thankful owner.
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