LoJack® System Helps Houston Police Department Recover Stolen Toyota 4Runner
- April 13, 2015
- recovery stories
The owners of a 2003 Toyota 4Runner contacted the Houston Police Department to report that their vehicle was stolen while their son was attending a community event. The keys were left with the son’s possession on a table and when he returned they were missing. He quickly checked where the Toyota had been parked and found it missing.
The Houston 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 Toyota 4Runner.
A short while later officers from the Houston PD picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen 4Runner 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 Toyota to a southwest side apartment complex. Officers staked out the Toyota and a short time later a man and woman got into the SUV and began driving away. Patrol officers attempted a felony stop but the driver refused to pull over near Bob White at Beechnut and led officers on a brief chase turning into a dead end street where the driver crashed into a flower bed in front of a home. The driver jumped out and tried to elude the police, but he was taken into custody after a brief foot chase. His female passenger was also taken into custody. The driver had two felony warrants for his arrest and he also had drugs in his possession.
The 4Runner sustained minor damage when it struck the flower bed in the front of the home.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Toyota 4Runner in December 2002 at Mike Calvert Toyota in Houston, Texas.