SUNNYVALE FLEET MECHANIC TRACKS STOLEN TRUCK
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Jason Henshaw has been a fleet mechanic for the City of Sunnyvale for seven years. Among his routine duties, Henshaw takes care of many of the Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) patrol cars. It was exactly this routine work that recently led to some rather non-routine adventures.
On October 25, Henshaw was working on a patrol car with severe overheating problems. He had removed the car’s two-way radio and dispatch computer and was in the process of moving the car when he heard a “beep.”
“At first I didn’t think anything about the noise,” Henshaw explained, “because the LoJack display always beeps when the car’s ignition key is first turned on.” LoJack is a stolen-vehicle detection system that alerts a police car when it is near a LoJack-equipped vehicle that has been reported stolen. The display in the patrol car beeps to alert the public safety officer, displays a code to identify the stolen vehicle and displays an arrow pointing toward the stolen vehicle.
“When I looked up at the LoJack display in the car, “Henshaw continued, “I saw it was actually displaying a stolen vehicle code – it definitely had hit on a signal.”
Henshaw had just left the City’s corporation yard. After driving a few more minutes and following the directions on the LoJack display, he could see the radio signal was getting stronger. At that point, he used his cell phone to notify DPS dispatchers that he thought he was close to a stolen vehicle.
Sunnyvale public safety officers responded to Henshaw’s location and used the patrol car’s LoJack receiver to home in on the signal. They very quickly found a construction truck that had been stolen only four hours earlier. Officers recovered the truck and were able to return it to the rightful owner without any loss or damage.
DPS Deputy Chief Mark Stivers, who awarded Henshaw a certificate of recognition for his efforts, was quick to point out that while he was pleased with Henshaw’s handling of the situation, he wasn’t surprised. “Everyone who works for the City is part of the same team,” said Stivers. “We are all working toward the same goal: a safe City in which we all can be proud to live and work. Henshaw’s reaction was typical of our City staff.”
And what does Henshaw think of all the attention? “I was just concerned that the patrol car would break down before we found the truck,” he said. “The overheating problem that brought that car into the shop in the first place was pretty severe, and it was getting pretty hot while we tracked down the signal.”