Thief Arrested Attempting to Sell Expensive Construction Equipment from Stolen Ford Pickup
- May 20, 2012
- recovery stories
At a construction site in Dallas, a driver had temporarily left a 2008 Ford F450 pickup parked with the keys in the ignition. The bed of the pickup was loaded with a jackhammer, a generator, an air compressor, and other equipment. When the driver returned to the pickup a short while later, he observed it being driven off. No one else had permission to take it. The construction company immediately reported the pickup stolen to the Dallas Police Department.
Dallas Police responded and completed a stolen vehicle report; this information was then 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 Vehicle Recovery Network, because LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
Fifteen minutes later, Haltom City Police Officers picked up the Ford’s silent LoJack homing signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer installed in their vehicle. By following the computer’s directional signals, the officers were able to track the stolen Ford to a house, where they observed it parked in the front driveway. A suspect was in the process of attempting to sell the generator to another individual. The officers were able to arrest the suspect and recover the pickup, along with all of the equipment in the bed. The total recovery value of the equipment was $120,000. This remains an ongoing investigation.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed at the previous owner’s request on November 30, 2007.