Jacksonville Beach PD says it caught theft suspects using Apple AirTag

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — It’s a small device that was originally created to track your luggage. However, Apple AirTags have also served as a way to track your belongings, and most recently, Jacksonville Beach Police are crediting it for helping in catching burglary suspects.

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“I think that’s kind of a great lesson with using technology, like AirTags, to help protect your stuff, track it when it goes missing,” Chris Condon said.

He lives in north Jacksonville Beach where several car break-ins have recently been reported.

“Once I saw the report that this was kind of a—these were professionals, it definitely puts a different spin on it from a standpoint of wanting to protect yourself, and make sure your items are secure,” Condon said. “Don’t leave anything important in your cars at night.”

Coretta Stewart and Eddie Smith III were arrested and charged with grand theft, fraudulent use of credit cards, and outstanding felony warrants, according to Jacksonville Beach police.

Action News Jax requested the police report and found Stewart and Smith were linked to some car burglaries in Jacksonville Beach, but they’re also tied to several liquor thefts in Duval and St. Johns County. They hit Publix, Walmart, and Target across the counties, according to the police report.

Investigators said while the two were committing these crimes, they were doing so in a rental vehicle. In a Facebook post, Jacksonville Beach Police said: “They picked the wrong vehicle and the wrong city for this! With the assistance of an Apple Air Tag, officers were able to locate these two suspects from a string of vehicle burglaries along 4th and 5th Street North last week!”

We reached out to Jacksonville Beach police to ask where exactly they found the AirTag, but we were told police could not comment on the active investigation.

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