Stolen car tracked by cellphone
Read about the clever way a CPF security companies tracked a stolen car and how you can too.
A stolen car was recovered by quick thinking and the use of every-day smartphone technology on Wednesday morning.
The vehicle was swiftly retrieved after it was stolen during an armed robbery at a home in Hans Strijdom Avenue in Lyttelton.
Lyttelton Crime Stop community policing forum (CPF) spokesperson Loot van Dyk said an emergency call was made on the Kloofsig radio on call (Kroc) radio network at 06:50 on Wednesday morning.
The call reported a trespasser at a house in Van Riebeeck Avenue in Kloofsig, Centurion.
“The call said the trespasser was armed with a pistol,” said van Dyk.
“Members from Kroc responded and the man was spotted jumping over walls. He was soon spotted in Hans Strijdom Avenue, shortly before being lost again.”
During this time the man allegedly entered a house while the homeowner was hanging her washing outside.
According to Van Dyk the man forced the woman inside her home and made her hand over her cellphone and car keys.
He then fled in her car, a maroon Mazda 5.
The woman alerted Monitor Net who responded to her distress calls.
Van Dyk said the woman, who has an android phone, handed over her Google account details, which the CPF and Monitor Net used to track the phone’s location.
“With assistance from Orange Fox security, a whole network was activated to follow up on the trace,” he said.
“CPF members kept the police and vehicle recovery companies up to date on the phone’s location. The phone was tracked from Thembisa, then Edenvale and finally to Alexandra.”
When they arrived at the location in Alexandra, the man had abandoned the phone and the car and fled.
He had not yet been found.
Van Dyk praised the efforts of everyone involved.
“I would definitely recommend that anyone with an android phone have their Google account details at the ready, so that if the phone is stolen, it can be tracked online with Android Device Manager.”
Lyttelton police spokesperson Warrant Officer Hero Gumbu called on anyone with information on the case to phone the Lyttelton police station on 012-644-800.
He could not yet confirm what police are investigating.
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