Fresno HEAT Recover Stolen Mitsubishi Eclipse, Undamaged — One Suspect Arrested
- May 15, 2012
- recovery stories
On the morning of March 26, 2012, the owner of a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse contacted the Fresno Police Department to report the vehicle stolen.
Fresno officers completed a stolen vehicle report and had the Mitsubishi’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers – a routine police action that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle. Neither the owners 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.
Just seven minutes later, an investigator from Fresno HEAT, the Fresno County Auto Theft Task Force, began receiving the Mitsubishi’s silent LoJack signal on his onboard LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC). The investigator ran the reply code that appeared on his PTC display screen and received a description of the stolen Mitsubishi. Following the directional cues on the computer, the investigator tracked the vehicle to the vicinity of Belmont and Harrison Avenues in central Fresno. The vehicle was found, parked and unoccupied, at the curb in residential area. Task force members initiated surveillance on the vehicle. A short time later, a male adult approached and entered the vehicle and prepared to drive away. The suspect was detained by task force investigators and later arrested for vehicle theft and possession of stolen property.
Police recovered the vehicle, intact and undamaged, and stored it until it could be released to the owner.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Mitsubishi Eclipse in August of 2002.