AirTag helped arrest a man who stole suitcases with 15,000 USD worth jewelry in Florida
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Police were able to catch a Florida thief who stole more than $15,000 worth of jewelry because the suitcase containing the valuables had an airtag
A man was detained by Okaloosa County authorities in Florida after he used AirTags to carry out baggage thefts at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport. The investigation of the case began at the beginning of August when the luggage of some people began to disappear, a situation that caught the attention of the officers.
Officials were able to advance their investigation because one of the victims who reported her luggage stolen indicated that she had put an AirTag in her suitcase as a security mechanism since she was carrying jewelry worth approximately $1,600. Thanks to this, the person was able to inform them that the tracking device located her suitcase in the Kathy Court district in Mary Esther.
Although these data were somewhat broad, they allowed the authorities to focus their efforts on that locality. To this was added a second complaint from another victim of the robberies who assured that the suitcase that was stolen contained more than $15,000 dollars in jewelry .
This led the police to request the information of the airline employees to identify if any of them resided in the district that had been identified by the AirTag. This is how they managed to identify Giovanni De Luca, a 19-year-old who worked at the airport as a contractor.
According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, investigators were able to establish contact with De Luca, allowing him to be taken into custody without incident at his home. The jewels stolen from the second victim were recovered at the scene, while the subject confessed to having committed the crime .
Now De Luca faces two grand theft charges that will almost certainly land him in prison.
“This arrest is an example of excellent teamwork by our Airport Security Unit, our investigators and the airport to find whoever is responsible for these thefts and ensure they are held accountable,” said Sheriff Eric Aden.
This is not the first time a criminal has been caught after stealing an item that had an AirTag . Something similar happened in May of this year in the city of Portland, where the police were able to catch a thief thanks to one of these electronic tracking devices.