LoJack® System Helps Law Enforcement Recover a Stolen 2015 BMW 528i
- May 12, 2016
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2015 BMW 528i 4-door sedan left their home and began traveling on Jog Road, when a white vehicle struck their car in the rear. The owner pulled their BMW over to the curb and exited. The other car followed. The owner observed 2 subjects exiting the other car approach the owner, leaving 3 other subjects in the car. As the owner walked to the rear of their BMW to survey the damage to it, the two subjects ran towards the owner’s car, entered it and drove off in it, with the second car following it. The owner immediately contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to report the BMW stolen. The responding deputy prepared a stolen vehicle report, theft affidavit and had the vehicle’s information entered into the state and federal crime information computers.
Knowing that the BMW was equipped with LoJack, the area was flooded with PBSO’s Eagle (helicopter equipped with a device to track LoJack vehicles) and deputies whose vehicles are equipped with LoJack Police Track Computers. Immediately upon activation, a PBSO deputy picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen 528i on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC). The deputy began tracking the stolen BMW by following the directional and audible cues on the PTC screen. The deputy also advised all the other deputies on their frequency as well as the Eagle. The Eagle observed the BMW backed in on the side of a house in the 300 block of Southwest Third Avenue, Delray Beach. The PBSO deputies and Delray Beach Police Department officers converged upon the house. Upon seeing the law enforcement officers the subject fled on foot. With the aid of the Eagle and the K-9 deputies and their partners, three of the suspects were apprehended. The owner of the BMW responded to the scene and positively identified the suspects as the ones that were involved in the carjacking of their car. All three were arrested for the carjacking. After “running” them through the system, it was discovered that they all had an extensive criminal past. The suspects were then transported to the Palm Beach County Jail. The white vehicle was discovered at the scene and parked right behind the owner’s BMW. Further investigation revealed that that vehicle was also stolen. Both vehicles were recovered, towed to the police impound yard for safekeeping and processing, and removed from state and federal crime information computer systems.
The LoJack® System was installed in the 2015 BMW 528i in January 2015 at Braman BMW in West Palm Beach, Florida.