LoJack System Helps Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force Recover Stolen 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- August 3, 2017
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 contacted the San Jose Police Department to report that his vehicle had been stolen. The victim stated he discovered the Chevrolet missing from the street near his employment on Martin Avenue, near the San Jose airport. The Chevrolet was taken sometime between 9 am and 1 pm during the day while the owner was at work.
The San Jose 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 Chevrolet 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 officer tracked the stolen Camaro to the residential area at the dead end of Chetwood Street with a cross street of Santa Rosa Avenue, in the city of Oakland, where the vehicle was found unoccupied.
Surveillance was established on the Camaro and later that night two suspects were observed to approach the stolen Camaro. One suspect entered the Camaro while the other then opened the hood to start the vehicle with their own illicit Electronic Control Module (ECM). Both suspects were taken into custody by the investigators before the suspects could leave in the Camaro. Both suspects have prior vehicle theft related arrests and were known to the investigators. Based on prior investigations and recoveries, it is believed the suspects parked the stolen Camaro at this location to determine if the police would find it and when several hours had passed, they returned to take it to a secondary location where it would be stripped. The Camaro was recovered, towed to be processed and then 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® 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 ZL1 in July 2014 at South Bay Honda in Milpitas, California.