A Southern California woman fed up with her packages getting stolen out of her post office box sent an Apple AirTag to the address and cleverly tracked down the suspected thief, police said.
The woman had had several items stolen from her mailbox at the Los Alamos Post Office already when she thought of the idea, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday.
Apple’s US$29 AirTags have become popular items since their 2021 release, helping users keep tabs on the location of anything from their lost keys to wallets and luggage.
On Monday morning, sheriff’s deputies were called to the post office where the woman told officials her mail had been stolen again — including the package with the AirTag.
Law enforcement tracked the AirTag to a block in Santa Maria, California, about 26km from the post office and arrested two suspects — a 27-year-old woman from Santa Maria and a 37-year-old man from Riverside.
They located the package with the AirTag among the victim’s mail, as well as items believed to have been stolen from more than a dozen other people.
The woman declined to be identified, the sheriff’s department said.
The two suspects were booked in jail on charges of possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, conspiracy, and identity and credit card theft. The 37-year-old was also booked on a burglary charge and several other theft warrants from Riverside County.
The department commended the woman for contacting them rather than attempting to confront the suspects on her own.
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