LoJack System Helps Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force Recover Stolen 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS and Arrest Suspect
- June 27, 2019
- Law Enforcement
The
owner of a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS contacted the Oakland Police Department to
report their vehicle stolen. The Oakland Police Department verified the theft
and entered the vehicle information into
the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
A short time later, California Highway Patrol vehicle investigators assigned to
the Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force were working in the city of
Oakland, when they monitored the Oakland Police radio of the theft, and the
owner providing vehicle location information from an owner installed GPS
system. The owner advised the vehicle
was travelling on I-580 towards San Leandro and the investigators began
responding to that location. The vehicle eventually stopped in San Leandro in
the vicinity of Washington Avenue near I-880, and the investigators were then alerted
to the stolen Camaro by means of the silent LoJack signal from the stolen
vehicle 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 stolen Camaro SS, officers
tracked and found the Chevrolet parked and unoccupied at a gas station/market
at the corner of Washington Avenue and Fargo Street. Officers placed a surveillance on the vehicle
and marked CHP units responded to the scene.
A few minutes later, a male subject exited the market and began walking
towards the stolen Camaro. A marked CHP vehicle began moving towards the
suspect, and he then fled on foot. The
suspect ran several blocks and entered a grocery store. The investigators apprehended
the suspect inside the store. The
suspect admitted he was driving the vehicle to a location in order to strip the
Camaro of its parts. The suspect had prior vehicle theft conviction and was on
parole for a weapons violation.
The stolen Camaro was recovered by the Auto Theft Task Force and was returned
to the owner. This was the fourth theft
and recovery of this Camaro in the past four years via the LoJack Stolen
Vehicle Recovery System. The San Francisco Bay Area has seen a marked increase
in the theft of this late model, high performance Camaros, typically recovered
stripped of their engines, transmissions, interiors tires/wheels, and
suspension parts. The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System was again
instrumental in preventing this owner’s Camaro from becoming one of these
statistics.
The LoJack® System was installed in the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS in December 2014, at John L. Sullivan Chevrolet, in Roseville, CA.