Chicago Police Helicopter Tracks and Recovers Stolen 2001 Ford Explorer
- February 21, 2012
- recovery stories
On January 5, 2012, the owner of a 2001 Ford Explorer discovered that his vehicle had been stolen and immediately contacted the Chicago Police Department.
After confirming the vehicle’s theft, Chicago Police officers completed a stolen vehicle report and had the Ford’s VIN entered into the state and federal crime computers. This routine police action automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Ford and initiated the tracking of the vehicle. Neither the owner nor the police had to do anything else to cause the activation of the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Network, because LoJack’s interface with law enforcement is both seamless and instantaneous.
A short time later, the Chicago Helicopter flying on routine patrol picked up the silent LoJack signal from the stolen Explorer on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer installed in the aircraft. Following the computer’s cues, the officers executed a series of turns and were quickly located the Explorer, parked and abandoned on a residential street in Chicago. The air officers contacted ground units, who moved in and made the recovery. The owner was contacted and he came to the scene and claimed the vehicle.