LoJack System Helps Lakewood Police Department Recover Stolen Honda Odyssey
- October 20, 2018
- Law Enforcement
The owners of a Honda Odyssey started their passenger van to warm it up on a chilly October morning and left it unattended for “just 10-minutes” in their quiet, comfortable and “safe” neighborhood. This was however just long enough for an opportunistic thief to recognize the “puffer” and to swipe the vehicle unseen.
The alarmed owners contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to report the theft. A deputy verified the crime and had the vehicle information entered into the nationwide police crime computer. This routine action performed by law enforcement automatically activated the LoJack® System that was concealed in the Honda.
Not long after the activation a Police Agent with the Lakewood Police Department picked up the silent LoJack signals from the stolen Honda with the LoJack Police Tracking Computer (PTC) installed in the police patrol vehicle.
Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the Agent tracked the vehicle to the parking lot of a grocery store three miles away from the neighborhood where it had been stolen.
Finding the vehicle unoccupied two Agents waited from concealed positions to see if any suspects would return to the vehicle. The owners were also notified to respond.
After a period of time passed and no suspects returned to the van it was processed for evidence. It was then returned on-scene to the very grateful owners before it could be used in another crime, wrecked through carelessness, or stripped.
The LoJack® System had been installed in the new Honda Odyssey in September 2003 at the request of the current owners. However they hadn’t recalled that they had it until the police reminded them of it. The police also informed them that it was because of their decision to purchase LoJack 15-years ago that they were able to detect that there was a stolen vehicle in their area and then quickly track and locate it in a crowed parking lot so easily.