A Santa Maria woman and a Riverside man located using an AirTag and arrested for mail theft
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Two people were arrested in connection with mail theft after a savvy victim used an AirTag locator to track the pair.
On Monday, Aug. 19, around 7:17 a.m., deputies were called to a reported mail theft at the Los Alamos Post Office stated a press release about the arrest from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Arriving deputies learned from the victim that she had had items stolen from her post office box recently and had mailed herself a package containing an AirTag locator device explained the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
When her mail was stolen again on Monday, the woman was able to track her package and shared that information with law enforcement detailed the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office noted the woman did not attempt to contact the people holding her mail and AirTag and instead contacted law enforcement with the information.
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, two people, a 27-year-old Santa Maria woman and a 37-year-old Riverside man, were located and arrested in the 600 block of E. Sunrise Drive.
The pair were found to have the victim's mail as well as her AirTag shared the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
The 27-year-old Santa Maria woman was booked into the Northern Branch Jail for felonies including possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft, and conspiracy with her bail set at $50,000 stated the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's explained that the 37-year-old Riverside man was also booked at the Northern Branch Jail on multiple felonies including burglary, possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, credit card theft, identity theft, and conspiracy as well as several theft-related warrants from Riverside County and he is currently being held on a $460,000 bail.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office stated that the investigation into the thefts is still underway and deputies are still contacting victims.
