Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Recover Honda Accord Stolen with Engine Running
- April 29, 2012
- recovery stories
On the night of March 11, 2012, the owner of a 1999 Honda Accord left the keys in the ignition of his car and the motor running while he ran inside his house. When he returned for his vehicle minutes later, he discovered the Accord missing and immediately reported the theft to the Pineville Police Department.
The responding officer completed a vehicle theft report and had the stolen Honda’s information entered into the state and federal crime computer systems. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle. Neither the owner nor law enforcement agents had to do anything else to activate the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Network, because LoJack’s interface with law enforcement is both seamless and instantaneous.
In the early dawn hours of the following morning, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers on routine patrol received the Honda’s silent LoJack homing signal with the LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC) installed in their patrol units. Following the directional and audible signal provided by the PTC, the officers tracked the stolen Honda to the 900 block of W. Trade Street in downtown Charlotte. There, they located the unoccupied vehicle, with the keys on the driver’s seat. The officers had the vehicle processed for evidence, and notified the victim of the recovery. Because the victim was unable to come to the recovery site to take possession of his vehicle, the undamaged Honda was towed and stored for safe keeping until the owner could take possession of the car.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Honda Accord at the new car owner’s request in October 1998.