Recovery of One Stolen Chevrolet Pickup Leads to Discovery of 5 More in Austin, TX
- April 30, 2012
- recovery stories
On March 27, 2012, the owner of a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck reported his vehicle stolen to the Round Rock Police Department.
The responding officer prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the Chevrolet’s information entered into the state and federal crime computer systems – a routine police action that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the pickup truck. Neither the owner nor law enforcement agents had to do anything else to activate the LoJack Vehicle Recovery Network, because LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
Forty-five minutes later, officers with the Austin Police Department picked up the Chevrolet’s silent LoJack homing signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer installed in their vehicle. Following the directional and signal strength cues on the computer, the officers tracked the stolen pickup to an apartment complex in the 5900 block of East Stassney Lane. In the parking lot, officers found this stolen pickup as well as five other stolen pickups, including:
— 2005 Chevrolet pickup, stolen out of Austin
— 2004 Chevrolet pickup, stolen out of Austin
— 2001 Chevrolet pickup, stolen out of Austin
— 2003 Chevrolet pickup, stolen out of Austin
— 2004 Chevrolet pickup, stolen out of Hays County
Detectives have determined that this apartment complex was a staging area for the thieves, and that all six stolen Chevrolet pickups were about to be moved to Mexico. This remains an ongoing investigation, and suspects have been identified.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Silverado at the previous owner’s request on December 3, 2001.