LoJack System Helps Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force Recover Stolen BMW 528i
- November 20, 2017
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2010 BMW 528i contacted the Berkeley Police Department to report that their vehicle had been stolen. The owner advised the BMW was taken from the street outside their apartment complex. The Berkeley 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 BMW 528i.
A short time later, investigators from the Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen BMW 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 investigators tracked the stolen BMW to a residential area in the unincorporated area of Hayward, where they found the stolen vehicle parked unoccupied on Morrill Street. An anonymous witness advised that a male subject had parked the BMW there earlier and had walked to a nearby residence on East Lewelling Boulevard. The task force investigators set up surveillance on the BMW and a short time later a male entered the stolen BMW and drove away. The investigators followed in unmarked vehicles and requested marked Alameda County Sheriff’s Department patrol units. The suspect eventually returned to E Lewelling Boulevard and parked behind a brand new 2017 Toyota Tundra. The marked sheriff’s units and task force investigators then took the suspect into custody without incident. Upon checking the Toyota Tundra, it was found to have been recently stolen from a Toyota dealership in Marin County.
Both stolen vehicles were recovered and towed/stored to be returned to their respective owners.
The LoJack® System was installed in the 2010 BMW 528i in October 2009 at Braman BMW in West Palm Beach, Florida.