LoJack® System Helps Palatine Police Department Recover Stolen 2004 BMW 525I
- September 4, 2015
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2004 BMW 525 contacted the Barrington Police Department to report their vehicle had been stolen from a closed dealer’s lot in the 900 block of Northwest Highway. The owner further stated he was selling the BMW and parked it their because of the heavy traffic. He had shown the car two days earlier, given an unidentified man a test drive and when he returned today the car was gone. The Barrington PD after verifying facts as presented entered the vehicle into local and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the BMW.
The next day a vehicle equipped with the Lojack Police Tracking Computer began picking up the silent LoJack signal from the BMW. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the stolen BMW was tracked to the 1300 block of East Port of Calls Drive in Palatine Illinois. The Palatine Police Department arrived on scene and recovered the stolen BMW. The Palatine PD received a description of a suspect observed in the BMW and given the location he had gone to when he left the vehicle. The Barrington PD towed the BMW for processing. Later that day the suspect was located and stated he borrowed the BMW from a friend for $100.00 to retrieve personal items he had left in Springfield, Illinois. Offender information was obtained from aforementioned suspect. The registered owner, a LoJack customer, arrived with his keys for the BMW which didn’t work. It is suspected the test drive previously mentioned resulted in a key fob switch which wasn’t noticed till the recovery of the stolen BMW. Investigation into this stolen BMW continues. The BMW was recovered undamaged, before it could be re-tagged, stripped, cloned, or used in a crime, and returned to a grateful owner.
The LoJack® System was installed in the BMW in February 2007 by Luxury Motors in O’Hare Franklin Park, Illinois.