On July 21, 2012 frantic, the owners of a 2010 Toyota Corolla contacted the Columbus Ohio Police Department to report that their vehicle was stolen from their apartment complex parking lot in Columbus. Columbus Police verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Toyota.
A short while later, deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and pilots in an Ohio State Highway Patrol aircraft picked up the silent LoJack homing signals from the stolen Toyota on the Police Tracking Computers installed in their patrol vehicles and aircraft. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the plane and ground units worked together and tracked the moving vehicle.
The officers stopped the vehicle in a commercial area of Columbus. At that point, all of the vehicle’s four occupants exited the car and attempted to flee on foot. Three of the occupants were apprehended. The fourth suspect was later arrested. The officers recovered the vehicle, which was undamaged, thanks to LoJack.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed in the Toyota Corolla, December 2009 at Toyota West.
NOTE: Portions of this story were obtained from the Columbus Police Department, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.