A Virginia carpenter put Apple AirTag trackers on some of his tools so he could find them if they were stolen. It worked beyond his wildest expectations — he led police to what eventually turned out to be multiple collections of 15,000 stolen construction tools.
This is far from the first time an AirTag has helped locate a stolen item. But it’s never been quite this enourmously successful before.
AirTag helps recover thousands of stolen tools
Apple’s description for AirTag makes it clear the intent is to help people find misplaced items, like car keys. But some people put the tags on their possessions so they can track them down if they’re stolen.
A Virginia’s carpenter did just that after the second time he’d lost some of his work tools to thieves. When it happened again in January, he drove around the D.C. suburbs using his iPhone and the Find My application to locate the stolen AirTags, according to the Washington Post.
He was eventually led to a storage facility where he called in the police. They obtained a search warrant and discovered way more than this one man’s stolen carpentry tools. It was quite a large pile of similar items, and police started an investigation that eventually lead to almost a dozen other such collections.
“Howard County police have recovered approximately 15,000 stolen construction tools in what is believed to be one of the largest and most expansive theft schemes in the region in recent years,” reports the Howard County Police Department.
#HoCoPolice have recovered approximately 15,000 stolen construction tools totaling $3-$5 million in what is believed to be one of the largest and most expansive theft cases in the region in recent years. More info and to recover stolen tools: https://t.co/ecfD8G2eFP pic.twitter.com/eHv5n8qqzQ
— Howard County Police Department (@HCPDNews) May 23, 2024
Police estimate that the total value of the recovered items is between $3 million and $5 million. The construction tools were apparently stolen from retail stores, vehicles, homes and construction sites over months.
So far, no arrests have been made. Still, police are trying to return the recovered property. Those affected can fill out a form requesting their stolen items back.
Be careful!
Apple doesn’t recommend using AirTags to track stolen items because it can lead to dangerous confrontations with criminals.
The carpenter in the construction tool case handled it about as safely as possible by calling in police as soon as he’d found his missing items.
But in 2022, a New York City man used an AirTag to tack down his stolen scooter. He used poor judgement and confronted the apparent thief without the help of police and got the $%#@ beat out of him.
