LoJack® System Helps Orlando PD and Osceola SO Recover Stolen John Deere Gator
- September 30, 2014
- recovery stories
The owners of a large landscaping company arrived at a construction site in the Lake Nona section of Orlando and discovered a 2013 John Deere Gator was missing. They immediately contacted Orlando PD to report that their vehicle was stolen during the overnight hours.
The Orlando PD verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the John Deere.
A short while later, officers from the Orlando PD Auto Theft and K-9 units picked up the silent LoJack® homing signals from the stolen John Deere with the LoJack® Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in patrol vehicles. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the officers tracked the vehicle to Boggy Creek Road in Osceola County. They were then joined by the Auto Theft Unit of Osceola County SO. The gator was located on a large rural property at the rear of which was a motor vehicle repair shop. The owner of the shop provided the officers and detectives the name and address of the male that brought the gator to the shop that morning. The detectives checked every other vehicle at the shop and none of them had been reported stolen.
The owners of the landscaping company were contacted and responded to the scene to take possession of the gator. The only damage to the gator was the removal of company stickers from the front and rear of the gator.
The investigation continues at this time as the Orlando PD attempts to make contact with the male that brought the gator to the repair shop.
The LoJack® System was installed in the John Deere Gator in October 2013.