Mail thieves caught after woman baits them with package containing Apple AirTag: Sheriff

A California woman is being applauded by local law enforcement after her idea to include an Apple AirTag in a package led to the arrest of two suspected thieves.

Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies responded to a call around 7:17 a.m. on Aug. 19 regarding a report of mail theft that occurred at the Los Alamos Post Office, the department wrote in a news release. Once at the post office, the deputies learned that a woman had items stolen from her post office box recently so she mailed a package to herself with an AirTag inside of it, the sheriff's office said.

Apple AirTags are small tracking devices people can use to locate personal items, like car keys. The price for one is $29.

Once her mail was stolen again that morning, and included the AirTag, she called the police, according to the release. Two suspects, Virginia Franchessca Lara, 27, from Santa Maria and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, from Riverside, were located by police in Santa Maria and had the woman's stolen mail, the sheriff's office said.

USA TODAY contacted the Santa Barbara County Public Defender's Office, whose attorneys are representing Lara and Terry, but have not received a response.

Stolen mail from over a dozen others found with suspects

In addition to the woman's package containing the AirTag, Lara and Terry had items believed to be stolen from over a dozen additional victims, according to the release.

Lara was booked at the Northern Branch Jail for possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy. She is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Terry was booked at the Northern Branch Jail for burglary, possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, credit card theft, identity theft and conspiracy. He was also booked on several theft-related warrants from Riverside County. He is being held on a $460,000 bond.

"The Sheriff’s Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution, while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects," the release said. "Deputies are continuing work on this case including contacting additional victims."