LoJack Corporation Helps Recover a Mini-Excavator Hidden in a Wooded Area
- October 17, 2012
A local paving company left their 2005 John Deere Mini-excavator at a construction site in New Britain on a Friday afternoon. They returned on Tuesday and the excavator was gone. After determining that it was stolen they notified the police.
The New Britain Police Department were called and it was their routine entry of the excavator’s information into the nationwide law enforcement stolen vehicle computer system that automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the stolen equipment. There was nothing else the owner’s had to do. LoJack is the only theft recovery system that is directly operated by law enforcement. This interface is seamless and instantaneous.
Just minutes later the K-9 officers from three different towns training in the area received the silent homing signals coming from the stolen excavator with their LoJack Police Tracking Computers (PTC) that are installed in patrol cars.
New Britain Police also received the signal and began tracking the stolen excavator. Detectives from the Regional Auto Theft Task Force joined in too. The audible cues led them to a densely wooded area in the city of New Britain. Using a handheld LoJack tracker they discovered the excavator deep in the wooded area alongside Route 9. Investigation of the area revealed that the thieves gained access to this area through an access gate in the highway sound barrier. The sound barrier and surrounding trees prevented the excavator from being observed from any direction. The thieves were in the process of disassembling parts and had already removed the tracks, bucket and hydraulic cylinders. At this time no suspects have been caught and the case is still being investigated.
The LoJack Vehicle Recovery System was installed on the John Deere Mini-Excavator in 2005. The current owner did not know the equipment had LoJack but received the benefit of the recovery of his equipment valued at $25,000.