Children Kidnapped in Stolen Lexus Found Unharmed, Suspect Arrested
- June 24, 2012
- recovery stories
On the afternoon of May 22, 2012, the owner of a Lexus GS300 – and mother of two young children in the backseat of the vehicle – was confronted and assaulted by an ex-boyfriend in the parking lot of the Burien Library. The assailant attempted to take one of the children, but when the mother resisted, he pushed her out of the way and sped off in the Lexus with the children still in the car. The crèmes were immediately reported to the King County Sheriff’s Office, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle.
A short time later, the King County Sheriff’s Office’s Guardian One helicopter and Washington State Patrol Cessna pilots began to pick up the Lexus’s silent LoJack homing signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in their aircrafts. Following the directional and audible cues on the LoJack Tracker, the flight officers notified ground units of the vehicle’s location in Burien. The officers set up a perimeter barrier, with the assistance of several other agencies. Unmarked King County units stopped the driver and took him into custody. The children were not injured and were quickly reunited with their grateful mother. The suspect was booked on numerous charges.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Lexus GS300 in April of 1994 when it was purchased as a new car in California. The current owner was not aware her car was equipped with LoJack.