Family Uses Apple AirTag To Track Down And Confront E-Bike Thief (2023)

That's A Crime
Episode 53: Family Uses Apple AirTag To Track Down And Confront E-Bike Thief (2023)

Jason Connell breaks down the true crime story of the Family Uses Apple AirTag To Track Down And Confront E-Bike Thief in 2023. In March 2023, Johnny Erhman's $3K e-bike was stolen from her workplace in Orange County, CA. Johnny then tracked its location using an Apple AirTag and contacted the police. After some time passed, her father David, went to confront the thief in person.

Recorded: 04-09-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
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Transcript

Jason Connell: 0:01

Whoa, just curious. Welcome to this curious media. This is that's a crime. And I'm Jason Connell, on the show today, I'm alone. But there's a reason this won't be as long of an episode. It's kind of an addendum to the last episode, because it deals with an apple air tag. As soon as we wrap salad I rap last episode, which was man uses Apple air tag to track down and kill person who stole his vehicle. In 2023, I started getting more Google hurts and things about other crimes of this nature. Now this one is not as negative. In fact, it's the opposite side of the coin. It has a better outcome. And rather than do a whole big episode on it, I figured it kind of works in tandem with last episode, so I wanted to share it here. And now. So here goes, today, I'll be breaking down the True Crime Story of the family uses Apple air tag to track down and confront a bike thief in 2023. Already a different tone. And I'll tell you right now, spoiler alert, no one dies. But it deals with this technology, Apple air tag, and we went into a deep dive last episode. So I'll spare that this time. But it is those little devices you can get for $29. And you can track your things, whatever it could be. Most people probably track a suitcase or their keys or vice versa. Or they put it in their car, like our last crime. Or you can track a pet which I've heard of people doing probably not the best idea, but you could if your pet gets out and about I don't know. So a lot of things are probably coming in this vein because more people are tracking things with the Apple air tag or another company. So I'm anticipating it becoming such a big thing that could be a whole category in the crime division on that. But this one came up very recent. I read it today. And here goes in March 2023, Johnny Vermont's e bike was stolen from outside of her workplace in Orange County, California. Now this being Johnny's main means of transportation for her 12 mile commute to school, and work and home. And the fact that the electric bike costs $3,000. This was quite devastating to her. And listen, I've had a bike stolen, so I can really sympathize with her. I've also had a scooter electric scooter, which I was always worried about. It was several $1,000 Never had it stolen, but it was a concern, and it had tracking on it. And I currently have an E bike, which is another concern. So I get it. Mine's not $3,000. But yeah, this is quite a bike almost like a motorcycle or an expensive scooter. So Johnny also shared the following that the bikes wheel and pedals had been locked and the battery was removed. But the bike wasn't locked onto a fixed object. You know, someone can pull up with a pickup truck and pick it up because they're not that heavy in all by themselves with someone else. So there's always that risk. But all is not lost. Because Johnny purchased an apple air tag for this very reason to track her ebike in the event something like this ever happened. See, I'm telling you. So after making the unfortunate discovery that her bike had been stolen, she began tracking it. The Apple air tag on her device, I'm assuming an iPhone and saw that it was on the move and notified police immediately. Perfect. You tell police and they handle it. Well, not so fast. Also, we learned last episode, that with an apple air tag, you can't see it in real time you see it when it's stationary and stopped because they want to prevent people from tracking people. Which is kind of fascinating. We do delve into more of that on the last episode. But it's unclear of the timeline here, but at some point in time, it became a family affair. Johnny and her father David continued tracking the bike until it stopped at an apartment complex not far from their home. Interesting the plot thickens. It was then David ermine took the law into his own hands and stormed over to the home to confront the thief after finding the bike in the front yard. Who, according to Fox 11 News in Los Angeles, David shared the following. I yelled at him. I'm grabbing my daughter's bike. The dude just stood there with this look on his face. I think the Look was shocked, like, how did he get my location? He then snatched the ebike. And as he says, hightailed it out of there. So I give you kudos, David for going over there and confronting what you have no idea what to expect what's on the other side of that door, you got to steal something back, that's yours. But, man, very brave. And I'm also happy that no weapons were brought into play. Nothing like that happened. No guns, knives, anything bad, thank goodness was avoided. I'm glad that the thief just backed away, was shocked, and probably started thinking one of the cops coming. David also stated that he thinks the Orange County Sheriff's Office didn't do enough after he and Johnny showed them the location of the bike and asked for their help. Now, listen, I've been there, I had a very nice truck bike stolen when I lived in an apartment in Los Angeles, notified the police. And they basically just said, Hey, I'm sorry. And they gave me enough information to fill out a report. So I could give it to my insurance company. They also shared that there was a wave going on at the time. And since mine was a track, there was a lot of them stolen in particular. And that's just how it goes. There's zero luck and getting that back so I can understand their frustration. But even more so here because they're saying here is the location. But, you know, this is not the highest priority for a police department. And even if you give them the location doesn't mean that they can just hightail it over there. But nonetheless, it's pretty daring to go over there yourself and confront someone, I'm happy that this turned out good. And the apple air tag succeeds. And there's not a death of any sort. There was a crime. I'm not sure what happened to the thief. If they press charges. There's none of that information. This is so new. I mean, it happened last month, but the recoupment of said ebike. The repossession of the ebike happened in the last couple of days, because this just broke yesterday, and I read it today. Now a spokesperson for the agency made the following statement. As much as the convenience of technology plays a vital role in the quality of our lives. We want to remind our communities to utilize their local law enforcement services when they've been victimized by a crime instead of placing themselves into harm's way. And there's a lot of truth there. You don't want everyone going out solving things on their own, getting into worst trouble. I mean, the last crime was very similar, but went a different way. We don't know what happened. There's still things unfolding. It's still a case, but someone was killed. Someone was killed because they were able to track them down. If that technology was not there, there's probably not a death, and maybe that vehicle resurfaces or is never seen again, I don't know. So as much as I love technology, I'm not rushing over to do something myself, I may stick it out, you know, and get good intel for the police. But please use the police and be persistent, get more information. Give it another day. But I gotta say I am happy for Johnny and David, for getting the ebike back. So Johnny can continue on her 12 mile commute and style on her ebike. And so there couldn't be more of these, as I said initially, and will space them out. But look for more crimes with technology that people now have on their phones with little devices. This is only the beginning. And that covers the True Crime Story of the family uses Apple air tag to track down and confront a bike thief in 2023. So thank you so much for listening. And please be sure to subscribe to the that's a crime podcast and the that's a crime YouTube Live Channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast. And for all you listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcast, send us a direct message or post a comment on any that's a crime social media platform. We also highly recommend checking out our other podcast and visiting just curious media.com