LoJack® System Helps New Jersey State Police Department Recover $346,668 Worth of Stolen Property

  • November 23, 2016
  • jaleman

The owner of a 2014 Toyota Rav4 contacted the New York Police Department, 30th Precinct, to report that her vehicle had been stolen from in front of her home in New York City.  The NYPD verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into the state and federal crime computers which automatically activated the LoJack® System concealed in the Toyota.

A short while later, officers from the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department and the Paterson Police Department picked up the silent LoJack signal coming from the stolen Toyota with the LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in their patrol vehicles.  Following the directional and audible cues from the PTC, the officers tracked the Toyota to a locked garage warehouse on Oxford Street in the City of Paterson. The New Jersey State Police Auto Theft Unit was notified to assist with the investigation. Surveillance was established on the garage in an effort to determine who may be storing the stolen Toyota in the garage warehouse.

During the surveillance, the stolen Toyota was moved from the Oxford Street garage to a salvage yard on Lafayette Street.  After the stolen Toyota entered the salvage yard, workers were observed dismantling the stolen vehicle.  A search warrant was requested for both the Oxford Street and the Lafayette Street locations.

Upon execution of the search warrant, the owner of the salvage yard and four employees were taken into custody; the stolen Toyota was recovered. During the execution of the search warrants, evidence of “auto theft,” “cargo theft” and “organized retail theft” were discovered in both locations. In addition to the stolen Toyota, several other stolen vehicles were identified from motor vehicle parts that were being stored in both locations. The parts were packaged and labeled for resale and export. Along with the stolen motor vehicle parts, two stolen forklifts, stolen construction equipment and three construction storage vaults used for securing construction tools at job sites were also recovered. The forklifts were being used to assist in dismantling the stolen motor vehicles. There were twenty-two LG Electric Clothes Dryers recovered from the theft of a high-jacked tractor trailer. Clothing items were recovered with the anti-theft devices still attached.  The New Jersey State Police estimated the recovered value of the stolen items at $346,668.

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The LoJack® System was installed in the 2014 Toyota Rav4 in April 2014 at Hudson Toyota in Jersey City, New Jersey.