Authorities in Orange County, California, utilized an unlikely device to track down two car thieves and recover a stolen vehicle. Rather than relying on a more traditional GPS tracker, police used the owner’s Apple AirPods to track the absent Volkswagen Beetle and bring the thieves to justice. Moreover, it’s far from the first time that cops have used trackable devices to find stolen cars.

A Volkswagen Beetle owner still has a car after Orange County police officers used their Apple AirPods to track the stolen car

A Volkswagen Beetle owner was shocked to discover an empty space where her Volkswagen Beetle was once parked. The owner called the police, hoping to recover the Beetle before it was too late. It’s unlikely that the aging “New Beetle” model had trackable architecture. However, that didn’t stop authorities from getting creative. 

The owner left their Apple AirPods inside the little blue Beetle. While that might seem like more lost property, the AirPods were the key to recovering the stolen Volkswagen. Police used the device’s location-tracking technology to track the car to a shopping plaza near the University of California, Irvine campus.

In dramatic body cam footage, police officers cornered the car thieves and arrested them. Consequently, authorities took the duo to an Orange County jail and charged them with stealing the vehicle, per KTLA. 

It’s also far from the only time small, trackable devices have led authorities to stolen vehicles. For instance, authorities used a pair of Apple AirTags to track a $140,000 BMW. Fortunately, the owner allowed the police to use the small trackers to find the missing M8 Competition after thieves stole it from a Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) parking garage.

Of course, an Apple AirTag, like a Tile or similar device, is a purpose-built tracker. However, other devices, like AirPods or tablets, can feature a location-tracking facility that can help track stolen property.