LoJack® System Helps Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Recover Stolen Toyota RAV4
- August 5, 2015
- recovery stories
The owner of a 2006 Toyota RAV4 contacted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) to report that their vehicle was stolen. The Toyota had been left locked in the parking lot of the owner’s apartment complex at 9PM the prior night. The next afternoon at approximately 2PM the owner returned to the parking lot to leave for work when the Toyota was discovered missing.
The CMPD verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the Toyota.
A short while later a CMPD officer working off duty security picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Toyota with the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in patrol vehicles and aircraft. Due to the high volume of traffic in the track area, the CMPD aviation unit was called in to assist in locating the Toyota. Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the CMPD helicopter tracked the Toyota to a wooded area at the end of Lockmont Drive about three miles from the theft site. The Toyota had been hidden off road and not visible from any of the surrounding streets. The owner was called to the recovery site, some damage had occurred probably while being taken off road but the owner was able to drive the Toyota from the recovery site. No witness canvassed was able to provide information as to when or by whom the Toyota had been stolen and driven into the wooded area.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Toyota RAV4 during February 2006 by Kearney Mesa Toyota in San Diego, California.