Garden Grove Officers Arrest Parolee for Theft of Toyota Tundra After High-Speed Car and Foot Chase
- April 22, 2012
- recovery stories
On March 27, 2012, the owner of a 2007 Toyota Tundra discovered that his vehicle had been stolen and immediately contacted the Santa Ana Police Department to report the theft.
Santa Ana officers completed a stolen vehicle report and had the Toyota;s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed within in the vehicle. Neither the owners nor law enforcement agents had to take any further action to initiate police tracking of the Toyota, as LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
Less than 30 minutes later, officers with the Garden Grove Police Department received the Nissan’s homing signal on the Police Tracking Computer (PTC) installed in their patrol vehicle. Following audio and visual cues on the LoJack PTC, the officers tracked the vehicle to an apartment building, where they observed the parked and unoccupied vehicle. They set up a brief surveillance on the Nissan and observed one male suspect enter the vehicle and quickly drive away. When the requested back-up units arrived, they attempted to conduct a high-risk traffic stop, but the suspect sped away.
The suspect later stopped the vehicle and fled on foot, with officers close behind. The suspect broke into two residential homes in an attempt to evade the officers, but was quickly taken into custody. The subsequent investigation revealed that the suspect had several outstanding warrants for vehicle theft and was wanted for parole violation. The suspect was arrested for Driving Without Owner’s Consent and several other violations and warrants. Garden Grove Detectives are handling the ongoing investigation.