LoJack® System Helps Tulare Police Department Recover Stolen Kubota RTV Utility Vehicle
- December 4, 2015
- recovery stories
Employees at the City of Visalia Water Treatment Facility discovered that a Kubota Four Passenger Utility Vehicle had been stolen from the jobsite over the weekend. The theft was reported to the Visalia Police Department. The Visalia 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 Kubota.
About 3 hours after the LoJack was activated, officers from the Tulare Police Department and investigators from TRATT, the Tulare County Auto Theft Task Force, picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Kubota with the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in police vehicles and aircraft. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the officers tracked the Kubota to a residential area in the vicinity of Wade and Canal Avenues in the city of Tulare. Officers spotted the Kubota in the back yard of a residence, partially concealed with tarps. Officers made contact with an adult male that lived at the residence and gained access to the Kubota in the yard. The Kubota had been spray painted to disguise it and the VIN plates had been removed. Officers questioned the male resident who acknowledged that he had allowed the Kubota to be left at his residence and knew that it was stolen. He denied stealing the Kubota and would not disclose the name of the responsible party. The male was arrested for possession of stolen property and was booked in the County Jail.
The Kubota was recovered and stored pending release to the owner.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Kubota in May 2015 by California Commercial Sales.