Honda Civic Stolen at Gunpoint, Recovered by Miami-Area Police Departments Using LoJack
- September 21, 2012
- recovery stories
According to sources, on Friday evening, August 17, 2012, the owner of a 2009 Honda Civic 2-door coupe had pulled into the driveway of his Miami Shores, Florida home. As he exited the vehicle, an individual approached him and demanded his cell phone and the keys to his car, threatening the owner by telling him that he had a gun in his waistband. The owner gave the thief what was demanded and fled inside of his home to call the police. The thief fled in the Honda in an unknown direction.
Miami Shores Police verified the theft and had the Honda’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the vehicle. At the time of the theft, the owner was unaware that the vehicle was equipped with LoJack.
A short while later, officers from a number of Miami-area police departments picked up the silent LoJack homing signal from the stolen Honda Civic on their on-board LoJack Police Tracking computer (PTC). Following the directional and audible cues on their PTC’s screen, officers from the North Miami Police Department and the Miami Shores Police Department converged upon an apartment complex parking lot near N.W. 103rd Street and 17th Avenue. There, they located the stolen vehicle, which the thief had left moments earlier.
The officers conducted a search of the area, but were unable to locate the suspect. They recovered the vehicle, towed it to the police impound yard for safekeeping and processing, and removed from the federal and state crime computers.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Honda Civic on October 28, 2008 at Maroone Honda of Miami, and has been protecting it ever since.