LoJack® System Helps Law Enforcement Recover Stolen Toyota Corolla
- November 17, 2015
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2015 Toyota Corolla 4-door sedan, which is an automobile rental company, rented this car to a customer for a week. Approximately a month later, the renter failed to return the car to the rental company. The owner of the company sent a Certified Demand Letter to the registered address of the renter, it was returned undeliverable. The owner made numerous attempts to contact the renter by way of phone, but no one answered. The owner of the rental car agency contacted the Orlando Police Department to report that their vehicle was stolen. The responding officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and theft affidavit. An Orlando PD auto theft detective was assigned the case. They determined that there was enough probable cause that the renter was depriving the owner their vehicle, so they had the Toyota’s information entered into the state and federal crime information computers.
Later that morning, while on routine patrol, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office auto theft detective picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Corolla on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC). The auto theft detective began tracking the stolen Toyota by following the directional and audible cues on their PTC screen. The auto theft detective, along with their backup, located the Toyota in an industrial park parking lot. Since the Toyota was entered into NCIC by the Orlando PD and the vehicle was in OPD jurisdiction, the OCSO auto theft detective requested that OPD respond to the scene to continue the investigation. While the responding officer was preparing their report, two subjects approached the Toyota. One subject was the renter of the Toyota. An Orlando PD auto theft detective responded to the scene and interviewed the subject. After completing their investigation, the detective believed that there was probable cause for the renter to be charged with Grand Theft Auto and ultimately filed charges with the State Attorney’s Office. The Toyota was recovered, released to the owner, who responded to the scene and removed from state and federal crime information computer systems.
The LoJack® System was installed in the 2015 Toyota Corolla in November 2014 at Central Florida Toyota in Orlando.