While police were able to track down a stolen car thanks to the owner having placed an Apple AirTag inside the vehicle, a high-speed chase ensued, leading to damaging the vehicle.
In the North Carolina city of Cary, three juvenile thieves took the Muhammad family’s Toyota Camry. While footage of them stealing the car was recorded on a neighbor’s doorbell camera, the Muhammads had no idea it was gone.
“We woke up, and I looked outside and I asked my wife, ‘Hey, do you know your car’s no longer in the driveway?'” Antar Muhammad told WRAL.
“You feel violated,” Leslie Muhammad said, “know that something you own, someone has taken.”
Antar Muhammad said that he routinely puts AirTags in everything, from the car to new luggage. He says he stood with police in his kitchen, showing the officers his iPhone’s Find My app indicating the precise location of the stolen car.
The car was 12 miles away in Durham city, and police departments from both cities collaborated on the arrest.
Unfortunately, as the Durham PD officers approached the stolen car, the thieves took off in it at a high speed. After the thieves almost hit a police cruiser, they shortly afterward crashed the car on Martin Luther King Jr Parkway.
The three juvenile perps were arrested at the scene, and guns found in the car were taken by police. The car itself has been towed away.
“One hundred dollars for a pack of 4 – it’s one of the greatest security systems you can have,” Antar Muhammad said. “As soon as we get a new vehicle or new item – backpack or purse or luggage – I open one up and put one in just for safety measures.
“It’s in an unknown location, but it’s very discreet and no one would ever find it.”
“I’m able to pinpoint exactly where it’s at and actually to zoom in and almost precisely pick out the parking space the car was in,” he continued.
Leslie Muhammad is delighted that the thieves were caught. “They picked the wrong car that night,” she said.