Fed-up California woman sends herself Apple Airtag to catch mail thieves

A California woman who was tired of having her mail stolen repeatedly helped police catch two thieves by cleverly sending herself an Apple AirTag.

The woman, who remains unnamed, had a mailbox at the Los Alamos Post Office in the Santa Maria Valley and had been a victim of mail theft multiple times, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

Upon reporting the most recent theft, police were called to the post office on Tuesday at 7:15 a.m. The woman had mailed herself a package containing a small Apple AirTag device that allowed her to track it.

The suspects were quickly located in Santa Maria, and they were found with the victim’s mail, including the package with the AirTag.

Additionally, they had items suspected to be stolen from over a dozen other victims, as per the sheriff’s office.

“The Sheriff’s Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution, while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects,” said the sheriff’s office in a statement.

Virginia Francesca Lara, 27, from Santa Maria, and Donald Ashton, 37, from Riverside, were charged with possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, identity theft, credit card theft, and conspiracy.

Lara was taken into custody on a $50,000 bond at the county’s Northern Branch Jail.

As for Terry, he was also arrested on multiple theft-related warrants from Riverside County and is being held on a $460,000 bond.

The case is still under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office, and detectives are reaching out to more potential victims.

In May, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to distribute free Apple AirTags to residents in an effort to combat rising car thefts.

In a separate incident, a man from Toronto was able to track his stolen SUV over 6,800 miles to the Middle East using Apple AirTags, eventually locating it at a car lot near Dubai.