LoJack® System Helps NCDMV License And Theft Bureau Recover Stolen Melroe (Bobcat) Skid Steer
- October 17, 2014
- recovery stories
The owners of a 2013 Melroe/Bobcat T590 rubber-tracked skid steer contacted the Gaston County Police Department to report that their vehicle was stolen. The renting contractor, after completing their project, left the skid steer unattended for more than three weeks without requesting the rental company to pick the skid steer up from the job site. When rental representatives went to the former job site, the equipment was missing.
The Gaston County Police Department verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the Melroe.
The next day, agents of the NCDMV License and Theft Bureau picked up the silent LoJack® homing signals from the stolen Melroe 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 agents tracked the skid steer to the 400 Block of West Catawba Ave. in Mount Holly, NC. This was approximately two miles from the theft site. The skid steer had been hidden in a wooded area so well that a person had to be within twenty feet to see the unit in the heavy cover of brush and trees. This recovery location was approximately two hundred yards off the street, through an open field and into the wood line.
Even though the recovery did not result in a suspect’s arrest for this crime, during the agents’ investigation a person of interest was identified. The person, associated with a used dealer business, was taken into custody for several outstanding drug related offenses. Upon inspection of the business, the individual was arrested on title fraud, two vehicles in his possession having the vehicle identification plates removed and possession of one stolen vehicle. The dealer business is subject to losing the state’s issued dealer privilege license.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Melroe/Bobcat T590 in May 2013.