A California man recently used an Apple AirTag and footage from a dashcam to recover his stolen BMW. Philip Obando one morning discovered that his BMW had been stolen. Fortunately, he had hidden an Apple AirTag inside his vehicle, so he was able to track the vehicle’s location in the Find My app.
Obando used the app to track his vehicle, watching as the thief drove around the city of Long Beach. The thief slept in the car, swapped out the license plate, and even took the vehicle through a car wash.
Obando and his wife decided to track and confront the thief. He told NBC News that he confronted the thief at a local gas station, proving that he owned the vehicle by honking the car’s horn by using his spare key fob to honk the horn. At this point, the thief decided that while it had been a good run, the jig was up and he took off running.
While Obando and his wife were able to recover their vehicle by tracking the car via an AirTag and confronting the thief, police (and MacTrast) recommend against doing so. Do not track thieves like Obando did. Instead, notify the police and allow them to take care of closing the case.
If someone discovers their vehicle or other item has been stolen and they can track it with an AirTag, they should immediately call the police, says the San Antonio Express-News.