A family’s decision to use several AirTags with their car helped speed its return, after a thief broke into it and shot it.
Tracking devices like AirTags are becoming more common as a means of securing valuable items. However, thieves are well aware that they can be tracked long after the crime has been committed.
In the case of one family in Washington DC, their preparation helped keep their vehicle trackable, despite the thief’s attempts to evade tracking.
The Settler family was carjacked by a man with a gun in southeast DC, according to reports ABC7 News. “I was getting out of the car and a man came over this side of me and pointed a gun at me,” Sean Setter explained.
After demanding the keys, the criminal drove off in the family car, followed by a red car and an accomplice who helped the thief.
Settler then explained that as a precaution they wanted to include AirTags in the car so they could track its location. A decision that certainly helped in this situation.
Two AirTags were kept in the car, one on the key fob and one hidden in the vehicle. The AirTags were also recorded on his wife’s account, so they could be quickly removed from her iPhone.
Shortly after leaving, the thief threw the husband’s iPhone out of the vehicle at RFK Stadium and also threw the AirTag key fob. However, they did not find the other hidden AirTag.
As a result, the police were able to locate the car just over an hour after it was stolen.
While the car was recovered, the insurance company was deemed to have totaled it, due to the wear and tear it had suffered in a short time. Damage from driving through yards caused an oil leak and he had also suffered a bullet wound to his side after being involved in a shootout.
The police arrested the case a day after the robbery took place.
The family did the right thing by contacting the police and allowing law enforcement to track the vehicle, as not every case where an owner goes after a tracked thief goes well.
In another vehicle theft case in April where AirTag was used to track the vehicle, its owners shot the suspected thief in a stolen truck. In August 2022, a New York man chased down motorcycle thieves using AirTag, but ended the encounter with a broken nose.
