10/02/2012
Background
Cobra received a call from a UK based leasing company advising that a vehicle they own had been stolen; they had leased the vehicle to a lady whose handbag containing the keys to the £112,500 Audi R8 Spyder had been stolen in Paris.
The leasing company had independently fitted a self monitoring GPS device to the vehicle. Having monitored the data provided by this device, they had found that the vehicle was being driven around France.
The lessee had contacted the French Police by phone to report the vehicle stolen. French Police refused to act immediately as their procedures require a theft to be reported in person.
The leasing company then asked French Police to investigate, giving the location provided by the GPS self monitoring device fitted. They were advised that French Police procedures meant that they could only act on information provided to them by a recognised and accredited independent Secure Operating Centre and not from vehicle owners.
The leasing company was aware that an Audi CobraTrak system was fitted to the vehicle but they had not paid the subscription, preferring to self monitor, and the Audi CobraTrak system had been de-activated. The leasing company rang Cobra and asked if they could locate the vehicle. Having paid a penalty fee to reactivate the system and a new subscription fee, the Audi CobraTrak device was reactivated and live tracking commenced.
06/02/12
13.00 The leasing company paid the relevant fees to reactivate the Audi CobraTrak device and tracking commenced. Initially, communication could not be established with the vehicle.
07/02/12
08:56 Communication finally established, location obtained - vehicle now locating in Athens, Greece.
08:59 Customer contacted to advise that the vehicle had been located. A Police Crime Reference Number (CRN) was still required to be able to validate the theft and to update Interpol's global stolen vehicle database.
09:42 Customer confirms the CRN provided by the French Police.
09:44 Cobra Secure Operating Centre (SOC) in Greece briefed by Cobra's UK SOC to take over theft management responsibility and undertake local language Police liaison in Greece.
09:59 Greek SOC provide GPS location and ignition status of the vehicle to Athens Police.
11:25 Greek Police attend location provided and cannot initially locate vehicle. It is stationary in a multi storey car park. They drive around the floors of the multi storey car park.
11:48 Greek Police locate the vehicle along with the driver - vehicle is secured but cannot be recovered until confirmation is received onto the Interpol database to ensure that Greek police act legitimately. Police remain with the vehicle.
13:46 Greek Police observing vehicle, whilst awaiting proof of ownership.
15:46 Vehicle finally recovered undamaged to the Athens Police Compound, with 1 male suspect arrested.
The leasing company is relieved that they did not make the mistake of removing the Audi CobraTrak device from the vehicle when the self monitoring device was installed, and accept that although the device may provide them with information, this information is of no use whatsoever in a case of theft as Police response is not guaranteed unless it originates from a recognised and accredited independent monitoring centre.
Cobra is unique in providing a Europe wide network of Secure Operating Centres, working to established local Police procedures in each country.
Cobra is the only approved supplier of pan-European Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) services to Audi.
The vehicle was secured undamaged within 114 minutes from theft confirmation, having travelled over 1856 miles from when it was hired.
COBRA ANNOUNCES IMPROVEMENT IN AVERAGE STOLEN VEHICLE RECOVERY TIME FOR COBRATRAK CUSTOMERS
26/01/2012
Cobra UK, a leader in vehicle safety and security solutions, has reported an improvement in the average vehicle recovery time for its CobraTrak vehicle tracking customers. Cobra’s figures for 2011 show that the average time from a CobraTrak customer confirming a vehicle as stolen to the time it has been secured by police has reduced to just 54 minutes from 57 minutes. Read full story »COBRA UK HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS A SUPPLIER TO THE MOD
05/03/2012
Cobra UK is now supplying to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Defence Engineering & Support Department. Read full story »Restored from an archived copy of this page captured on 27/10/2012. Product availability, specifications and pricing are being reconfirmed.