LoJack System Helps Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force Recover Stolen 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- May 12, 2017
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 contacted the South San Francisco Police Department to report that his vehicle had been stolen. The victim stated he discovered the Camaro missing from in front of his residence in the 700 block of Grand Avenue. The South San Francisco 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 Chevrolet Camaro.
A short time later, an investigator with the Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force picked up the silent LoJack signal from the Camaro 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 investigator tracked the stolen Camaro to the residential area of Vista Street and Wellington Street in Oakland where the Camaro was found unoccupied.
Surveillance and Arrests
Surveillance was established on the Camaro and later that night the vehicle was moved by the suspects to a residence in the 1600 block of 72nd Avenue where it was backed into the driveway. The surveillance was continued and later a Ford pickup truck was observed arriving and two subjects unloaded an engine hoist and took it to the residence where the Camaro was located. Additional officers were called into position to surround the residence as the suspects were observed to begin to remove the tires and wheels from the Camaro. The investigators approached the suspects in the driveway as they worked on the Camaro. One suspect, a juvenile, attempted to flee on foot but was quickly apprehended. The other male adult suspect was also taken into custody.
All of the tools and equipment located at the residence were taken as evidence to be processed for latent finger prints to assist in identifying any further suspects. The Ford pickup truck the suspects had arrived in was also impounded. The Stolen Camaro was recovered and towed/stored to be released to the owner.
The San Francisco Bay Area has recently seen a marked increase in the theft of these late model high performance Camaros which are typically being recovered stripped of their engines, transmissions, interiors tires/wheels, and suspension parts. The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System was instrumental in preventing this owner’s Camaro from becoming one of these statistics.
The LoJack® System was installed in the 2013 Chevrolet Camaro in July 2016 at Stewart Automotive Group in Colma, California.