LoJack® System Helps El Dorado Sheriff’s Department Recover Stolen Dodge Ram Truck and Close Down a Chop Shop
- December 16, 2014
- recovery stories
The owners of a 1998 Dodge Ram pickup contacted the El Dorado Sheriff’s Department to report that their vehicle was stolen sometime during the night.
The El Dorado SD verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the Dodge pickup.
Several days later in a very rural part of the county near Hwy 49 and China Hill Rd, deputies from the El Dorado SD picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Dodge 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 deputies tracked the Dodge to run down ranch the end of a dirt road where they received the silent LoJack signal from the Dodge. Deputies made contact with the owner of the property who gave consent to search the property. Deputies then walked to the rear of the property and observed a 1998 Dodge pickup matching the description of the stolen Dodge. Further investigation revealed this Dodge was indeed the stolen Dodge but had been VIN switched with a different VIN and cold license plates.
A search warrant was obtained and investigators recovered three more stolen Dodge trucks and a stolen VIN switched Kawasaki motorcycle. Other vehicles missing their VINS were impounded and investigators are attempting to determine if they are stolen. The owner of the property has ties to an outlaw biker gang and was arrested for running a chop shop, receiving stolen property, auto theft, and several outstanding felony warrants.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Dodge Ram 1500 in March 1998.