LoJack® System Helps Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Recover Stolen Honda Odyssey
- October 22, 2015
- recovery stories
The owners of a 2007 Honda Odyssey contacted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) to report that their vehicle was stolen from their apartment complex parking lot. The owners had parked their Honda in the back of their apartment building the night before around 11:30PM. The owners, now victims of auto theft, had the only set of keys to the Honda. They were certain no one had been given permission to drive the Honda and there was no reason for the car to have been towed.
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 Honda.
A short time later the CMPD officers on routine patrol duty in the area of I-77 and I-485, just north of the South Carolina state line, picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Honda 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 officers tracked the Honda to an apartment complex off Kingsford Drive. The Honda was located backed into a parking space, locked, no apparent vehicle body damage, and the assigned registration plate still attached. The owner/victim was called to the recovery address, unlocked the Honda and allowed officers to investigate the interior. A strong odor of marijuana remained in the Honda but no ignition or interior damage was found. The Honda was processed for latent evidence and returned to the owner to be driven away.
An investigation continues to determine if evidence from the Honda can be connected to a suspect(s) and further interviews to be conducted of possible witnesses at the theft and recovery addresses.
The LoJack® System was installed in the Honda Odyssey in June 2007 at Crown Honda in Charlotte, North Carolina.