Stolen Honda Civic Located Nine Minutes After Theft, Suspect Arrested After Felony Stop & Chase
- January 18, 2012
- recovery stories
On January 3, 2012, the owners of a 1996 Honda Civic contacted the Long Beach Police Department to report the vehicle stolen.
Long Beach Police responded to the scene, prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the stolen Honda’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Honda and initiated the tracking of the vehicle.
Just nine minutes later, the same Long Beach Police Department officer that had just filed the stolen vehicle report on the Honda, got into his vehicle and immediately picked up the LoJack signal from the victim’s vehicle on his LoJack Police Tracking Computer. He put out an information broadcast to other Long Beach units, and tracked the vehicle to 20th Street and Long Beach Boulevard. He and other back-up units observed a male suspect about ten feet away from the vehicle. The officers conducted a high-risk stop. The suspect raised his hands in the air and said, “What?” and took off running. The suspect was quickly taken into custody. He admitted to making a shaved key to steal the vehicle and was arrested for Grand Theft Auto and a variety of other charges. Long Beach Detectives are conducting the follow-up investigation.