LAPD Stop Bus, Arrest Suspect in Theft of Chevrolet Cruze — Claims He Was Driving it for a Friend
- June 25, 2012
- recovery stories
On the morning of May 18, 2012, the owner of a Chevrolet Cruze contacted the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division to report the vehicle stolen. After verifying the theft, LAPD officers entered the Chevrolet’s information into the state and federal crime computers, which activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Cruze.
A short time later, officers with LAPD’s Air-18 began to pick up the Chevrolet’s silent LoJack signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in the aircraft. Following the directional and audible signals of the LoJack Trackers, the flight officers directed Wilshire Division ground units to the vehicle’s location in the area of Washington and Crenshaw Boulevards. There, the ground units located the vehicle, parked and unoccupied, in a coffee shop parking lot. Officers conducted a brief surveillance of the vehicle before observing a male suspect exit the coffee shop and climb into the driver’s seat of the Chevrolet. The suspect sat there for several minutes before exiting the vehicle and going into several stores in the area. The suspect returned to the stolen vehicle, looked around and quickly boarded a bus. The officers conducted a high risk traffic stop on the bus and detained the suspect. The officers found the keys and remote to the stolen vehicle in the suspect’s pocket. The suspect admitted to finding the keys on the top of the Chevrolet and taking the car. He stated that someone had called him to drive the vehicle for him, but he didn’t know his name.
The suspect was arrested for Driving without Owners Consent. Wilshire and Pacific Detectives are conducting the follow-up investigation.