Two men were arrested after an Apple AirTag was found on the car of two Florida residents who were returning home in August.
The attempted robbery, captured on surveillance footage, happened on Aug. 19, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement this week.
A video shared by authorities shows two people, identified only as victims, in their SUV when the suspects approach, grab them, pull them out of their seats and try to force them into the garage. The footage then coincides with October 8. body camera footage of a deputy stopping one of the suspects in a vehicle. When the man confirms his name, the deputy arrests him.
Two men caught on film, 2025. August 19 after trying to rob a couple in Odessa, Florida. Deputies say they used an Apple AirTag to track the couple before the attempted robbery.
Luis Charles, 26, was arrested on Oct. 8, and Omardy Maldonado-Rodriguez, 32, was arrested two days later on Oct. 10, the sheriff’s office said. They are charged with armed burglary and armed kidnapping.
Both are still in police custody as of Oct. 17, according to online jail records. and has public defenders. The public defender for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s Oct. 17 requests for comment.
USA TODAY October 17 reached out to Apple for comment on the matter, but did not immediately hear back.
Officers found a tracker under the victim’s car
The robbery happened in Odessa, about 25 miles northwest of Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release, calling the situation a “horrific home invasion.”
Authorities said the suspects forced the victims into their garage at gunpoint, but fled when the alarm went off. Detectives would later find an Apple AirTag under the victim’s car.
“Being ambushed with a gun in a place where you should feel safest is every family’s worst nightmare,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a news release. “Thanks to the work of our detectives, these dangerous criminals are now behind bars where they belong and the victims, along with our community, can rest a little easier.”
Apple markets its AirTags as “a super easy (sic) way to track your stuff.” Customers can attach the circular devices to their keys or place them in backpacks or other bags and track tags using the Find My app.
Users can also share an AirTag with up to five people, so items shared by multiple people, such as umbrellas, bikes or car keys, can be tracked by everyone.
in 2022 two women filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, alleging that AirTags are “unreasonably dangerous” products that stalkers can use to harm others.
In another case, a woman in Indiana admitted that in 2022 used an AirTag in June to track her boyfriend, Andre Smith, whom she later ran over and killed. She was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, the USA TODAY Network’s Indianapolis Star reported.
Contributing: Mike Snider and Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY; Sarah Nelson and Jake Allen, Indianapolis Star
Saleen Martin is a reporter for USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is originally from Norfolk, Virginia – 757. Write her an e-mail. email to sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AirTag found on victims’ car after ‘horrifying’ Florida home invasion