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By OnStar

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Jose Ruiz was far from helpless as he watched a thief drive off with his 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe. He knew the situation would end this way as soon as he saw the stranger approach wielding a sawed-off shotgun.

When the suspect demanded Jose and his cousin exit the car and hand over all their valuables, Jose quickly obliged. His cousin attempted to argue with the perpetrator, but Jose encouraged him to cooperate. He was confident that as long as they could escape with their lives, it wouldn’t be the last he saw of his Tahoe.

He has OnStar.

Once the suspect sped off, Ruiz quickly ran to flag down help. He found an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, who notified the local police department in Visalia, California and at Jose’s request, reached out to OnStar.

After OnStar advisors verified the Tahoe had been stolen and the subscriber requested assistance, they were able to quickly locate the Tahoe and alert the Visalia officers of its location. They were also able to initiate OnStar’s newest stolen vehicle recovery service, Remote Ignition Block, in case the suspect stopped the vehicle before the officers were able to locate it visually, he would not be able to restart it. Once officers had the vehicle in sight, they requested Stolen Vehicle Slowdown be initiated. As the vehicle began to slow, the suspect attempted to escape on foot, but was quickly apprehended by officers without incident.

Less than 16 minutes after OnStar was first contacted, Ruiz’s Tahoe was safely recovered.

“This situation allowed us to leverage our full suite of Stolen Vehicle Assistance services – Vehicle Location, RIB and SVS,” said OnStar President Walt Dorfstatter. “This is the perfect illustration of how our services come together for the benefit of our subscribers and the community.”

The OnStar team caught up with Jose (and his Tahoe!) two days after the carjacking happened – check out the video below to hear him share his harrowing story.

Tags: California, Car Thief, Carjacking, Chevy Tahoe, Jose Ruiz, Stolen Vehicle