John Deere Gator Stolen in Texas – Rapidly Retrieved by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department with the Help of a LoJack® System

  • April 12, 2013

On March 04, 2013, the owner of a  John Deere Gator contacted the Montgomery County, TX Sheriff Department to report that their Gator UV was stolen from a construction site sometime over the prior weekend. Officers verified the theft and entered the vehicle information into their State and Federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack® device concealed in the Gator, which was installed at Brookside Equipment in Spring, TX.

A short while later, deputies from Harris County Sheriff’s Department picked up the homing signals from the stolen Gator on the LoJack tracking computer installed in their patrol vehicle, and were able to pinpoint the signal to a large track of land on the North side of Houston. After a diligent search, the officers were able to locate the tractor hidden in the heavy undergrowth approximately one-half mile off the roadway. All the wiring, including the battery cable, had been disconnected in an attempt to disable any type of tracking device, but the LoJack unit’s backup battery did not fail, and officers were able to return the Gator to its owners.

 

NOTE: Portions of this story were obtained from the Montgomery and Harris County Sheriffs Department