LoJack® System Helps North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles License & Theft Recover Stolen Audi A8
- March 1, 2016
- recovery stories
The owners of a used car lot contacted the Pilot Mountain Police Department to report a known person drove onto their church parking lot and discovered an untagged vehicle parked to the side of the church. A dealership plate was displayed on the front of the vehicle. Knowing the dealership’s owner the person telephoned the owner. The vehicle described was recognized as being a used vehicle owned by the dealer which should have been parked on the dealer lot approximately seven miles from the church. The dealer requested officers to do a drive by of the dealer lot. Officers arrived at the dealer lot to discover the dealer office had been broken into and a person(s) had taken keys and had stolen four vehicles. No witness or suspect was known at the time of discovering and reporting the crime.
The Pilot Mountain PD verified the theft and entered the four vehicles information into the state and federal crime computers. The entry automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in one of the four stolen vehicles, the Audi A8.
As a result of one of the dealership owners having an active full time law enforcement career; he, other officers, family and friends immediately began a local search for the stolen vehicles. Before the day had ended three of the four stolen vehicles had been recovered before snow blanketed the area requiring officers to devote all their efforts to wrecks and other citizen safety needs.
As the weather cleared an Inspector of the North Carolina DMV License & Theft was returning to his High Point office (50) miles south of the victim dealership, when he picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Audi 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 Inspector tracked the Audi to a hotel parking lot off I-85 Business. A hotel guest was identified as the driver of the Audi. The driver was interviewed and provided details of how she was given the Audi by an ex-boyfriend, who was now a named suspect in the breaking and entry of the dealership. The Audi was seized and released to the victim dealership. An investigation continues for other possible suspects. The named suspect has charges pending but has not been apprehended as of this writing.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Audi A8 in July 2007 at Braman Audi in West Palm Beach, Florida.