Two Arrested in New Orleans Following Felony Stop on Stolen Toyota 4Runner
- January 22, 2012
- recovery stories
On December 5, 2011, the owner of a 2008 Toyota 4Runner parked and secured his vehicle for the evening outside of his residence in the Garden District of New Orleans. When he returned to the parking spot the next morning, he discovered the vehicle missing and immediately contacted the New Orleans Police Department to report the theft.
New Orleans Police responded to the scene, prepared a stolen vehicle report and had the stolen Toyota’s information entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Toyota and initiated the tracking of the vehicle.
A few hours later, a deputies from the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office received the silent homing signal from the stolen 4Runner on the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) installed in their patrol cars. The deputies then queried the LoJack “Reply Code” appearing on the PTC display screens with the police stolen vehicle computer system and received positive confirmation that the signals were coming from the stolen 4Runner. Following the computer’s cues, the deputies tracked the vehicle in Chalmette and located it in a parking lot of an area burger outlet. The St. Bernard deputies immediately set up surveillance on the Toyota.; a short while later, they observed the vehicle leaving the parking lot. The deputies quickly conducted a felony stop and arrested the driver for possession of the stolen 4Runner. The passenger was also arrested when the deputies discovered that he was a fugitive wanted for an outstanding felony warrant.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Toyota 4Runner at the owner’s request in March 2011.