LoJack® System Helps Law Enforcement Recover Stolen Mercedes-Benz SLK250
- November 17, 2015
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2015 Mercedes-Benz SLK250 2-door coupe was carjacked by a couple of thugs at the corner of N.W. 29th Street and Miami Avenue. The owner contacted the Miami Police Department to report the incident. The responding officer prepared a stolen vehicle report, theft affidavit and had the vehicle’s information entered into the state and federal crime information computers.
Initially a Miami PD officer picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Mercedes-Benz SLK250 on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC). Shortly thereafter a Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputy picked up the signal. Later that afternoon the Mercedes was stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol along Florida’s Turnpike for excessive speeding. It was there that the passenger of the Mercedes exited the vehicle. The driver then drove off in a hurry. It was at the point that the trooper learned that the Mercedes was the carjacked vehicle and its occupants fit the description of the carjackers. At that point the passenger was arrested and a “BOLO” (Be On the Look Out) for the vehicle was issued.
A while later an Orlando Police Department officer picked the stolen Mercedes’ signal. The officer began tracking the stolen Mercedes by following the directional and audible cues on their PTC screen. The officer, along with their backup, located the Mercedes in the 3000 block of C.R. Smith Street, where a “felony stop” was performed without incident. As the officers approached the Mercedes they could smell a strong distinct odor of cannabis and conducted a search of the driver. The officer found a bag in the suspect’s crotch containing cannabis and handed it over to another officer. The officer approached the Mercedes and saw in plain view a cigarette in the cup holder which contained cannabis. A NIC kit presumptive test was conducted on a sample of both items which gave an immediate positive reaction for the presence of cannabis. The officer collected the cigarette and the bag of cannabis and entered them into evidence. The suspect was arrested for possession of cannabis and a hold for Miami PD on the carjacking and theft of the automobile. The Florida Highway Patrol has pending charges of fleeing. The Mercedes was recovered, towed to the police impound yard for safekeeping and removed from state and federal crime information computer systems.
The LoJack® System was installed in the 2015 Mercedes-Benz SLK250 2-door coupe in March 2015 at Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables in Florida.