SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A Southern California woman, fed up with packages being stolen from her mailbox, sent an Apple AirTag to her address and cleverly tracked down the suspected thief, police said.
The woman had already had several items stolen from her Los Alamos post office mailbox when she came up with the idea, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
Apple’s AirTags, which cost $29, have become popular items since their launch in 2021, helping users track 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 officers her mail had been stolen again, including a package containing an AirTag.
Law enforcement tracked the AirTag to a block in Santa Maria, 16 miles from the post office, and arrested two suspects.
Those arrested included a 27-year-old woman from Santa Maria and a 37-year-old man from Riverside.
They found the package containing the AirTag among the victim’s mail, as well as items believed to have been stolen from more than a dozen people. The sheriff’s department said the woman declined to provide identification.
Both suspects were jailed on charges of possession of a check with intent to defraud, conspiracy and identity and credit card theft.
The 37-year-old man was also jailed on a robbery charge and several other robbery warrants in Riverside County.
The sheriff’s department praised the mail theft victim for contacting police so they could apprehend the suspects instead of trying to contact them on her own.