LoJack leads CHP to Chop Shop and Recovery of 9 Stolen Vehicles
- January 23, 2012
- recovery stories
Late in the night of December 19, 2011, the owners of a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe reported the vehicle stolen to the El Monte Police Department.
El Monte Police responded to the scene, prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the stolen Tahoe’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Tahoe and initiated the tracking of the vehicle.
Within minutes, units from the El Monte Police Department and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Baldwin Park picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Tahoe on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles. The officers tracked the signal to an automotive repair facility in the city of La Puente, where they found the Tahoe, parked and unoccupied. Officers noted that there were ten repair bays on the premises. The CHP officers contacted members of the CHP LA Investigative Services Unit (ISU) and requested they respond to the scene.
The ISU investigators conducted surveillance throughout the night and when the businesses opened the next morning, they conducted an inspection of the opened bays. A Ford F-350 on the premises was found to be stolen and VIN-switched, and was recovered along with the Tahoe. The investigators contacted the owner of the business, who refused to come to the shop. The investigators obtained a search warrant, entered the business, and made the determination that it was a working “Chop Shop”. Several stolen vehicles were in the process of being stripped. In total, nine vehicels were recovered from the site, including the Chevrolet Tahoe, component parts from six stolen late model Ford and GMC Diesel pickup trucks, two Sea-Doo Watercrafts, and a stolen trailer. The case was filed, charging the owner with the operation of a Chop Shop. This is Chop shop # 427 for LoJack of So California.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Chevrolet Tahoe by the original owners in November 2001.