Thanks to AirTag, he caught the thief of his BMW. Everything was filmed by the on-board camera – SMARTmania.cz

• A California man was able to recover his stolen car using an AirTag
• However, experts do not recommend this procedure
• According to them, people should leave the confrontation with the thief to the police

A certain Philip Obando from Long Beach, California came out of his house one day to find that his BMW had disappeared, which shocked him. However, since he had access to the car’s dash cam, in which he also had an AirTag location tag hidden, he decided to take the situation into his own hands.

It was the on-board camera that recorded the thief’s entire nocturnal adventure. He smoked in the car, fell asleep in it, drove it to the car wash, and even picked someone up. Knowing the exact location of the stolen car, Obando and his wife began tracking the thieves directly, something neither Apple nor the police recommend.

The risky action paid off

They ran into him at a gas station and Obando went after the thief. “I said ‘hey, that’s my car.’ And the guy replied, ‘No, that’s mine.’ And I’m like, ‘Really?’ I had spare keys, unlocked and the car beeped. At that moment he immediately ran away.” Obando told NBC News.

Although, according to Obando, the suspect had his wallet and knives in the car, luckily he didn’t do anything to him. However, it was more frightening when Obando found out, thanks to the said wallet, that it was a thief from the nearby neighborhood.

Leave it to the police, experts advise

However, security experts warn against using this tactic and say it is not always the best idea to take the law into one’s own hands, as Obando did. However, some government departments actively encourage the responsible use of AirTags and similar technologies.

For example, the mayor of New York together with the NYPD. However, they should leave the actual physical tracking and subsequent confrontation to the police. “I keep it in my car just to feel good, to use it to help the police if something happens.” the mayor commented on the case.

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Obando has already left the matter to the investigators, however, according to the local police department, no arrests have yet been made and the investigation is still ongoing.