LoJack® System Helps Arizona D.P.S. Highway Patrol Recover Stolen Ford Escape
- October 16, 2014
- recovery stories
On August 19, 2014, at approximately 3:00 am, a Phoenix police officer on patrol of a neighborhood in the area of 35th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road observed the garage door of a residence open. Knowing the area and that this was not a normal procedure for the residents, the officer knocked on the door to wake up the owners. After telling the resident that the garage door was open, he returned to his police cruiser. The garage door was closed by the owner and the officer went about his patrols. After going back to bed the resident realized that his wife’s 2008 Ford Escape was not in the garage when he closed the garage door. The owner got out of bed and confirmed the vehicle was missing. The owners then contacted the Phoenix Police Department to report that the Ford Escape had been stolen. The owners advised that there was a spare set of keys left in the center console.
The police verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the Ford.
Twenty minutes later an Arizona Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol Officer working the freeway in North Phoenix, picked up the silent LoJack® homing signals from the stolen Ford with the LoJack® Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in patrol vehicles and aircraft. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the officers tracked the vehicle to an apartment complex near 11th Avenue and Bell, in Phoenix.
The Ford Escape was found abandoned in the parking lot of the apartment complex. The Ford Escape was processed for evidence and later returned to the owners in good condition. While recovering the stolen Ford, a stolen Honda was observed driving through the parking lot. The Honda was able to evade police and was not located.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Ford Escape in January, 2009.