LoJack System Helps Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force Recover Stolen Chevrolet Trailblazer SS
- October 9, 2017
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS contacted the Pittsburg Police Department to report that their vehicle had been stolen. The Chevrolet was taken from the parking lot of a restaurant in the 300 block of Railroad Avenue. The Pittsburg 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 Trailblazer.
A short time later, investigators from the Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Chevrolet with the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) which are installed in patrol vehicles and aircraft. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the officers tracked the stolen Trailblazer to the area of the 7900 block of Ney Avenue in Oakland, where they believed the vehicle to be in a gated apartment complex. The California Highway Patrol Air Operations Unit was requested and the fixed wing aircraft also tracked the Chevrolet to the apartment complex and confirmed it was parked in a covered carport. Surveillance was established on the complex and a male juvenile arrived in the area in a 2001 Chevrolet pickup, parked and walked to the complex. He then left a short time later in the pickup accompanied by a second juvenile. The license plate on the truck was obtained and it was then determined the truck had been reported stolen. The surveillance was continued and the stolen truck and juveniles returned and parked in the street. As the juveniles again walked to the apartment complex, they were taken into custody by the investigators. Investigators were then able to enter the complex and recover the stolen Trailblazer. The juvenile driver of the stolen truck was released to the custody of his mother. He is currently on probation for a prior vehicle theft conviction. The juvenile passenger was released.
The Trailblazer SS was recovered and towed/stored to be returned to the owner. Investigation is continuing.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Chevrolet Trailblazer in August 2010 at Courtesy Chevrolet in San Jose, California.