LoJack® System Helps New Mexico Auto Theft Task Force Recover a Stolen Chrysler 200 and Leads to Multiple Stolen Articles Being Recovered Including Three Vehicles and a Boat and Trailer.
- January 14, 2019
- Law Enforcement
The owner of a 2015 Chrysler 200 contacted the Albuquerque Police Department to report their vehicle was stolen. The owner advised she was hospitalized and her Chrysler was stolen from the parking lot. The Albuquerque 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 Chrysler 200.
Approximately fifteen minutes after the activation, an officer with the Albuquerque PD picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Chrysler with the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in their patrol vehicles and aircraft. The Officer was on his way into work when he picked up the LoJack signal and contacted the Auto Theft Detectives to see if they were already tracking the Chrysler. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the officer tracked the LoJack signal to the area of Broadway and Gibson.
The Auto Theft Detectives determined the LoJack signal was coming from an auto recycler yard and they established surveillance on the business. Detectives made contact with the business owner and were advised the Chrysler was towed as a private property impound from a hospital. Detectives seized the stolen Chrysler, had it removed from the property and continued their investigation. It was determined the business owner’s initial story was that of fiction resulting in Detectives obtaining a search warrant for the business.
Members of the New Mexico Auto Theft Task Force (Albuquerque PD and New Mexico State Police Auto Theft units, along with Insurance Fraud Bureau agents) executed the search warrant on the business. During the search warrant the following stolen vehicles were located: Dodge Ram SRT-10, two Dodge Durango’s VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) switched, a SeaDoo boat and trailer, and a transmission. These stolen vehicles were recovered and will be returned to their owners at a later time.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Chrysler 200 in December 2015 at Brad Francis Chrysler in Los Lunas, New Mexico.