NYPD Arrest One Suspect, in Possession of Duplicate Chip Key, for Theft of Toyota RAV4
- March 20, 2012
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2007 Toyota RAV4 parked and locked his vehicle on the street where he lives in the North Baldwin section of Nassau County, confines of the 1st Precinct. When he returned for the vehicle around noon on February 27, 2012, he found it missing, and immediately called the NYPD Nassau.
When the Police arrived, they took a written report, and had information about the stolen Toyota RAV4 entered into the state and federal crime computer databases. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Toyota. No further action was required by the owner or law enforcement agents to activate the LoJack network, because LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous. As soon as a vehicle’s LoJack transponder is activated, it begins to emit a silent signal that police are able to track on computers installed in their patrol vehicles.
Shortly after activation, the Police of the Brooklyn South Auto Larceny Unit picked up the RAV4’s signal and began to track it through the Brooklyn South area, and into the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, several miles away. There, officers located the Toyota, parked on a residential street, with its license plates and stickers removed in an attempt to evade the police’s license plate reader.
Officers quickly set up surveillance on the vehicle; after several hours, their patience was rewarded, when a male suspect entered the vehicle. As soon as he entered the RAV4, the officers immediately converged on him, avoiding the possibility of a chase. The suspect was immediately placed under arrest. Further investigation revealed that the suspect was in possession of a duplicate Toyota Chip key, which he had used to steal the vehicle.
Police recovered the undamaged RAV4 and contacted the owner, who was elated to learn that his vehicle had been recovered so quickly, and without any damage.