$29 AirTag helps Cary family, police locate stolen car within minutes
"They picked the wrong car that night," Leslie Muhammad says of the thieves who stole her car out of her Cary driveway on Friday night.
Video from the Muhammads' doorbell camera shows the thieves working their way down the street before driving off in Leslie Muhammad's Toyota Camry.
"We woke up, and I looked outside and I asked my wife, 'Hey, do you know your car’s no longer in the driveway?'" Antar Muhammad said.
Leslie Muhammad's car bore an AirTag, an Apple tracking device, and her husband was able to see where it was using an app on his phone.
"I’m able to pinpoint exactly where it’s at and actually to zoom in and almost precisely pick out the parking space the car was in," he said.
The Muhammads use AirTags on both their vehicles, on luggage and backpacks.
"One hundred dollars for a pack of 4 – it’s one of the greatest security systems you can have," Antar Muhammad said. "As soon as we get a new vehicle or new item – backpack or purse or luggage – I open one up and put one in just for safety measures.
"It’s in an unknown location, but it’s very discreet and no one would ever find it."
When police arrived, he was able to show them the car's location.
"It had moved, and then all of a sudden it stopped moving," Antar Muhammad said.
The responding officers, from Cary, called their counterparts in Durham, who told WRAL News that officers located the Camry just before 11 a.m. on Saturday and took three underage suspects into custody.
"They were also elated – the fact that we could find the location that easily and they were able to contact Durham police instantly," Leslie Muhammad said.
"From the moment we woke up to the moment we called police and it was all settled, (it took) two hours, two and a half hours," Antar Muhammad said.
Leslie Muhammad says new tech like the AirTag should serve as a deterrent to criminals and a reassurance to law-abiding citizens.
"The way technology is advancing, I think so will the mindset of some of the thieves," she said. "I think it’s important for people to be aware of what’s out there to support them when it comes to their own personal safety and your items – your home, your cars. If there’s an easy, especially low-budget way, to keep your home and family secure, that’s the best way to do it."
WRAL has reported on some of the privacy concerns with AirTags in the past, including how they can be used to stalk or track someone without them knowing, but the Muhammads say the $29 tracker paid off for them in this case.
