(VIDEO) LoJack® System Leads Police to Stolen Truck within 1.5 Hours

SOURCE: KOB4

It took Albuquerque police just 1.5 hours to catch a suspected truck thief Thursday because the truck was equipped with Lo-Jack, a tracking system used by police to find stolen cars.

Thanks to Lo-Jack, police were able to track down and arrest Gino Garza, who had no idea the truck he stole was sending out a signal that led police right to his house.

“Alert! Lo-Jack stolen vehicle contact received,” is what the system tells police when a car is stolen, and is exactly what APD officer Montano heard yesterday.

He tracked the signal to a house in northwest Albuquerque.

Police found not only the stolen car behind a fence in the backyard, they also found a stolen SUV belonging to PNM in the driveway.

A Lo-Jack law enforcement liaison says the company has a 90 percent recovery rate for stolen vehicles.

“The officers love it,” said Matt Morales, the Lo-Jack spokesman. “They’re doing their normal duties…driving patrol, or on their way to a call, and all of a sudden, the Lo-Jack goes off…and provides them with the unique ID number so they can run it, verify the stolen status and find the vehicle.”

Police say Garza denied knowing anything abou the stolen vehicles on his property and said they just “showed up.”

But police say the stolen truck was not only behind a fence, but that the fence had a locked gate on it.

It costs about $700 to have Lo-Jack installed on your car if you don’t already have it. The system is usually installed on new cars at the dealership.