Quick Recovery and Surveillance of Stolen Chevrolet Equinox in CA Leads to Arrest of Two Car Thieves
- April 29, 2012
- recovery stories
On March 23, 2012, the owner of a 2007 Chevrolet Equinox contacted the Parlier Police Department to report the vehicle stolen.
The responding officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the Chevrolet’s information entered into the federal and state crime computers. This routine police procedure automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Equinox. Neither the owner nor law enforcement agents had to take any further action to activate the LoJack Vehicle Recovery Network, as LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
Just seven minutes later, an officer from the Clovis Police Department received the Chevrolet’s silent LoJack signal on his patrol car’s LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC). Following the directional and signal strength cues on the PTC, the officer tracked the vehicle to Bullard and Villa Avenues near downtown Clovis. The vehicle was found unoccupied in a parking stall of an apartment complex.
Plainclothes officers were summoned to the location to conduct surveillance on the vehicle. Less than thirty minutes had passed when the officers observed two adult males approach and enter the vehicle. The suspects were immediately detained. One suspect was identified as the person responsible for the theft. The second suspect, though not responsible for this theft, was found to be wanted on an outstanding warrant for vehicle theft and was a “Parolee at Large”. Both suspects were arrested for Possession of Stolen Property. The second suspect was also booked on the warrant as well as violation of parole.
The vehicle was recovered intact and undamaged, and released to the owner at the scene.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Equinox in June of 2008.