Authorities arrested a man carrying out suitcase thefts in Okaloosa County in Florida with the help of an AirTag at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport. The investigation of the case began at the beginning of August when the luggage of some people started to disappear, a situation that caught the attention of the officers.
Officials were able to advance their investigation after one of the victims who reported her luggage stolen indicated that she had put an AirTag in her suitcase as a security mechanism since it was carrying jewelry worth approximately $1,600. Thanks to this, the person could inform them that the tracking device located her suitcase in the Kathy Court district in Mary Esther.
Although these data were somewhat extensive, they allowed the authorities to focus their efforts on that locality. A second complaint was added from another victim of the robberies, who assured that the stolen suitcase contained more than $15,000 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 the AirTag had recognized. They have managed to identify Giovanni De Luca, a 19-year-old man who worked at the airport as a contractor.
According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, investigators managed to establish contact with De Luca, which allowed them to detain the culprit without incident. The jewelry stolen from the second victim was recovered at the scene while the subject confessed to committing the crime.
Now De Luca faces two grand theft charges that will almost certainly land him in prison.
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“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 this year in Portland, where the police could catch a thief thanks to one of these electronic tracking devices.