AirTag helps couple find stolen car: ‘They picked the wrong vehicle’

CARY, N.C. (WRAL) - A North Carolina couple say an Apple AirTag helped police find their stolen car and three suspected thieves within minutes.

When Antar and Leslie Muhammad woke up Saturday morning, they realized their Toyota Camry was no longer in their driveway.

Doorbell camera captured video of the thieves before they took off with the Muhammads’ car Friday night. One of them tried to open the door of a neighbor’s car then walked away. Meanwhile, someone else walked around the Camry.

“They were going around checking vehicles, and they thought they got lucky. They picked the wrong vehicle. They just didn’t realize it,” Antar Muhammad said.

That’s because the thieves drove off in a car with an Apple AirTag hidden inside.

The Muhammads called Cary Police, and from the kitchen of their home, the couple used a phone app to track down their stolen car to a neighborhood 12 miles away. They told officers, who contacted their counterparts in Durham.

Durham Police found the Muhammads’ car, saying the thieves drove off in it then crashed it.

“Thank God, we were safe. Nothing valuable was in there,” Antar Muhammad said.

The couple says from the moment they realized the car was gone to when it was all settled took about two-and-a-half hours.

While their story doesn’t end with a car back in their driveway, the Muhammads want other families to see how a little technology can quickly catch up with crooks. The couple use AirTags on their vehicles, luggage and backpacks.

“If there’s an easy, especially low budget, way of finding a way to keep your home and family and items secure, that’s the best way to do it,” Leslie Muhammad said.

After finding the Muhammads’ car, Durham Police took three underage suspects into custody.