A man who worked for UPS for five years has been arrested by Texas authorities for $200,000 in theft, Florida is considering harsher laws for people who use AirTags to stalk, and more, all on this week’s Apple crime blotter.
A 37-year-old Texas man who worked for UPS for five years has been charged in a “high-end theft” case. He is accused of stealing parcels, including “Apple iPhones, Apple iPads, and various smartwatches.”
According to a Facebook post by the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office Facebook page, the man is also accused of stealing jewelry, power tools, and “luxury designer items such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Ferragamo, and Dior handbags, wallets, and accessories.”
UPS Security alerted the prosecutor’s office that the items were missing, and investigators later tracked them to the employee’s residence.
Florida is considering a new law that would impose stiffer criminal penalties for 26 different crimes if an AirTag or similar device is used while committing it.
According to FloridaPolitics.com, the Florida Senate version of the bill would provide “enhanced criminal penalties for a person who, to commit or facilitate the commission of a dangerous crime, knowingly installs or places a tracking device or tracking application on another person’s property without consent or uses such a device or application to determine a person’s or their property’s location or movement without consent.”
The bill has unanimously passed the Senate Rules Committee.
Man accusing of taping AirTag to woman’s car
Speaking of AirTag-related crimes, a Pennsylvania man has been arrested for duct-taping an AirTag to a woman’s car.
According to Local 21 News, the victim had asked the man to return a key, but he refused, after which she physically pushed him out of her home. After the man “called the victim over 300 times and left about 100 angry’ voicemails,” the AirTag was found on the back of her car.
The man has been charged with trespassing, stalking, and harassment.
Man sues police after they used AirTag in his arrest
A California man who pled guilty in 2024 to first-degree burglary and identity theft is now suing a local city alleging that the police’s use of an AirTag violated his constitutional rights.
According to Mountain View Voice, Tyghe James Mullin was arrested in 2023 after police tracked property to his public storage unit, with police stating that they tracked an AirTag on a suitcase that he stole.
Mullin pled guilty the following year and served 17 months, but he’s now filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The suit, in which Mullin is acting as his own attorney, names Mountain View, as well as six individual police officers.
AT&T employee accused of allowing $40,000 iPhone theft
A woman who worked at an AT&T store in Sandy Springs, Ga., has been arrested after police say she allowed thieves to steal $40,000 in iPhones.
According to WSB TV, the woman, an inside sales rep, was working with two thieves. She confessed to the crime, the report said, as soon as officers arrived at the store.
Two Target distribution employees charged in Apple theft
Two men who worked at a Target Distribution Center in Montgomery County, N.Y. have been charged with stealing nearly $6,000 worth of Apple products.
According to CBS 6 Albany, the two men, both 25, “were observed over a month-long period removing Apple products from packages intended for distribution to Target retailers nationwide.”
Both were charged with grand larceny and conspiracy.
Georgia man arrested for trying to sell stolen iPhone to kiosk
A 22-year-old man in Rome, Ga., has been arrested and charged with stealing an iPhone 12 and trying to sell it to a Gazelle kiosk at a local Walmart. He was charged with theft by receiving stolen property.
According to Coosa Valley News, the iPhone belonged to a person named “Beautiful Dreamer.”
Woman accused of car theft was tracked by AirPods
A 49-year-old Indiana woman was arrested after police say she stole a car, left it running at a gas station, and was tracked via AirPods that were left in the car.
According to WTHI, Parke County Sheriff’s Office tracked the stolen car to the gas station, where the woman left it running while she went inside. She was arrested and charged with auto theft and resisting law enforcement.
