Orange County Officers Conduct Felony Traffic Stop, Arrest Thief of Mercedes E350
- May 25, 2012
- recovery stories
On April 30, 2012, the owner of a 2010 Mercedes E350 was notified by his employees that his car was seen leaving his business. The owner quickly contacted the Costa Mesa Police Department and reported the vehicle stolen.
Costa Mesa officers completed a stolen vehicle report and had the Mercedes’ information entered into the state and federal crime computer systems. Neither the owner nor police had to take further action to activate the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Network, as LoJack’s interface with the police is both seamless and instantaneous.
Minutes later, deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s north County Operations and Stanton Station began to pick up the Mercedes’ silent LoJack signal on their patrol vehicles’ LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTCs). A sergeant from Stanton Station radioed that he had just observed a vehicle at Beach Boulevard and Garden Grove Boulevard matching the description of the Mercedes. Responding units arrived in the area, and located the vehicle at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and the 22 Freeway. The officers performed a high-risk felony traffic stop. The lone driver/suspect was taken into custody without further incident.
The deputy at the scene indicated that the suspect obtained the car from a friend. The suspect was arrested and booked into the county jail system, pending a felony complaint. The undamaged vehicle was stored and later processed for prints.
It should be noted that Orange County deputies also recovered a stolen 2006 Ford, also by using LoJack, within the same time frame as this incident. The ongoing investigation is being handled by Costa Mesa detectives.
The owner of the Mercedes had the LoJack Vehicle Recovery System installed by Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in June, 2010.