LoJack® System Helps Phoenix Police Department Recover Stolen Kia Rio
- October 17, 2014
- recovery stories
During the early morning hours, a Phoenix police officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Kia Rio. The vehicle failed to yield and fled from police. The police officer went to the registered owner’s residence and made contact with an elderly female. When asked where her vehicle was, the owner replied that it was parked in the driveway. The owner was not aware that her vehicle had been stolen sometime during the night.
The Phoenix 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 Kia.
Eight minutes later officers from the Phoenix Police Department picked up the silent LoJack® homing signals from the stolen Kia 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 a neighborhood in central Phoenix where the vehicle had been dumped after the earlier encounter with police.
Auto theft detectives from the Phoenix Police Department responded and conducted surveillance on the stolen Kia. A short time later a male suspect was observed getting into the Kia and driving away. The suspect failed to stop again and fled from the marked officers. After a short vehicle pursuit the suspect exited the Kia and fled on foot. The suspect ran across six lanes of the I-10 freeway in the central Phoenix area without getting struck. The suspect entered a laundry room of an apartment complex and changed clothes. A resident of the apartment complex called the police to report the suspect sitting in the area wearing their clothes. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident. The suspect was booked on several charges to include the theft of means of transportation.
The Kia was processed for evidence and towed from the scene with minor damage.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Kia Rio in May 2008.