Additional Coverage:
- California woman fed up with stolen mail sends Apple AirTag to herself to catch thief (newsbreak.com)
A resourceful Southern California woman, weary of repeated thefts from her post office box, employed an Apple AirTag to track and assist in catching the person she suspected of stealing her deliveries, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
The rise in missing parcels prompted the woman from Los Alamos to deploy the tracking device, a product that has gained widespread use since its introduction in 2021 for locating missing items like keys and bags.
This past Monday, she reported to sheriff’s deputies at the Los Alamos Post Office that her mail, including the package containing the AirTag, had been stolen once again.
Using the AirTag’s signal, law enforcement officials zeroed in on a location in Santa Maria, approximately 16 miles from the post office. There, they apprehended a 27-year-old woman from Santa Maria and a 37-year-old man from Riverside.
Upon their arrest, authorities found not only the package with the AirTag but also numerous items suspected to be stolen from over a dozen individuals. The woman targeted by the thefts opted not to reveal her identity.
The apprehended suspects are now facing charges which include possession of checks intended for fraud, conspiracy, along with identity and credit card theft. Additionally, the man was charged with burglary as well as confronting several other theft-related warrants from Riverside County.
The sheriff’s department praised the victim for promptly alerting the authorities, which enabled the successful capture of the suspects, instead of attempting to confront them by herself.