Florida Deputies Track Down Teen Luggage Thief With The Help Of 'Active' Air Tag

Florida deputies have detained a teen who allegedly stole at least two luggage bags from an airport, thanks to an Apple AirTag that was attached to one of the stolen suitcases.

The man in question apparently committed the theft back-to-back in July and August this year at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, where he worked as an airline subcontractor. On one occasion, he swiped valuables worth over $15,000 from a suitcase and stole an entire suitcase during another such incident.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said that it had arrested the thief, identified as 19-year-old Giovanni De Luca, Saturday after the data received from the Apple Air Tag, a device that allows Apple users to keep a track of their belongings, pointed to the area of Kathy Court in the city of Mary Esther in Florida.

A search began for the teen after two travelers reported their bags stolen in July and August. The combined value of the items stolen was nearly $17,000, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The traveler who alerted authorities in July told them that their luggage contained items worth over $1,600, as well as had an AirTag snapped on it, Gizmodo reported.

Apple allows a person who finds somebody else's AirTag to disable it. But in this case, it was never turned off and the owner kept getting updates on the thief's location, much to the convenience of the police.

Based on the location data, the police made efforts to locate any airport employees in the area, and the search ended with the arrest of De Luca, New York Post reported.

"[Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office] investigators made consensual contact with De Luca [on Aug. 10] at his home on Kathy Court. They were able to recover the items reported missing August 9^th," the sheriff's office wrote in a statement.

Police said De Luca rummaged through the luggage and removed the AirTag but forgot to turn it off. Deputies, however, couldn't recover the bag. It wasn't clear what happened to the other bag.

"De Luca also admitted rummaging through the first victim's suitcase and removing an Apple Airtag. Her belongings have not been recovered."

De Luca is charged with two counts of felony grand theft. He is likely to face a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted.

"This arrest is an example of excellent teamwork by our Airport Security Unit, our Investigators, and the Airport to find the person responsible for these thefts and make sure he is held responsible," Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden in the statement, according to The Blaze.