Two suspected mail thieves were thwarted by a tracking device and a Santa Barbara County woman who was fed up with having her mail stolen.
On Monday, Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies were called to the Los Alamos Post Office shortly after 7 a.m. for a report of mail theft. Thieves stole items from a woman's mailbox, and this was not the first time the mailbox had been broken into, she told deputies.
But this time, he decided to take matters into his own hands and mailed himself a package containing an Apple AirTag, a tracking device that can be used to help people find their personal items via a Bluetooth signal.
According to the Sheriff's Department, her mail, including the package with the tracking device, was stolen on Monday. The woman showed deputies she was able to track the package to the 600 block of E. Sunrise Drive in Santa Maria.
Deputies found the woman's mail, including the package with the AirTag along with items that were likely stolen from more than a dozen additional victims, according to the Sheriff's Department.
Authorities arrested Virginia Franchessca Lara, 27, of Santa Maria, and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, of Riverside, on suspicion of the robberies. Lara was booked into the Northern Branch Jail on charges of possession of checks with intent to defraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy, the Sheriff's Department said. Bail was set at $50,000.
Terry was arrested on suspicion of robbery, possession of checks with intent to defraud, credit card theft, identity theft and conspiracy. He was also arrested on several warrants related to robberies in Riverside County. His bail was set at $460,000.
In a news release, the Sheriff's Department thanked the P.O. Box owner for taking a proactive approach and not attempting to confront the suspects on her own. The case remains under investigation to identify additional victims.
A pack of four AirTag tracking devices costs $80 and are about the size of a half-dollar coin. Apple is in the middle of a class-action lawsuit in California that accuses the company of taking inadequate measures to prevent stalkers from using the AirTag tracking devices, which the Silicon Valley company once called “stalker-proof.”
