On Tuesday July 10, 2012 the owner of a 2006 CASE Backhoe contacted the Staten Island 122nd precinct to report that their backhoe was stolen from a job site in Staten Island, where they were currently doing a construction job.
When the officers from the 122nd precinct arrived at the scene they took a written report. This information was then entered into the NYPD stolen Auto Computer, it also automatically enters into the NCIC computer, which is the stolen car alert for the United States. Once this was done, without any notification by the Police or the owner, the backhoe's LoJack Transponder was automatically activated, thereby causing the backhoe to put out a silent tracking signal.
A short while later Police Officers from the Staten Island Auto Larceny Unit picked up the silent LoJack homing signal from the stolen backhoe on the Police Tracking Computer installed in their patrol vehicle. Following the directional and audible cues from the LoJack computers, the Officers tracked the backhoe to a newly developed residential area in Staten Island. There they found the backhoe secretly concealed n a wooded area. They staked the machine out for short while, however when no one came for it they took the backhoe into custody.
The backhoe was recovered in excellent condition, without any damage. However on inspection by the owner, who was present at the scene he noticed that the brand name CASE had been covered up with HERTZ stickers. This was apparently done to disguise the machine. Although it may have been altered the machines appearance, it did not alter the LoJack signal which enabled the Police to track it.
