LoJack® System Helps Law Enforcement Recover a Stolen 2001 Honda Odyssey
- June 14, 2016
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2001 Honda Odyssey parked their van in the parking lot of a drug store in the 9000 block of Biscayne Boulevard so they could purchase some medicine. The owner left the keys in the van. After making their purchase, the owner returned to where their van was parked and discovered their van missing. The owner contacted the Miami Shores Police Department to report their Honda stolen. 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.
Shortly thereafter, while on routine patrol, a Miami-Dade Police Department officer picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Odyssey van on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC). The officer began tracking the stolen van by following the directional and audible cues on the PTC screen but lost it as it was rapidly moving around in the area. A little while later, an Auto Theft Task Force investigator, picked up the signal and continued the track. The investigator, along with their backup from the Miami-Dade PD and North Miami Police Department, located the van parked just north of NW 128th Street and NW Miami Court, where the officer performed a “felony stop” on the van. While the officers were taking the suspect into custody, the suspect wanted to know why they were being arrested. After a search incident to arrest, the officers located a set of keys. The officers confirmed that these were the keys to the van by first trying them in the door and then putting them in the ignition and starting the van. The suspect was transported to the MDPD district station for further investigation and ultimately to the Dade County Jail. The van 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 2001 Honda Odyssey in September 2000 at Maroone Honda of Hollywood in Florida.