Truck thief gunned down by owner after AirTag gives away location

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 2023
A Texas truck theft ended in gun fire after the suspected thief was tracked down by thevehicle's owner's AirTag.

AirTag on a keyring.
AirTag on a keyring.


San Antonio police received a stolen vehicle report at around 1 pm from a Braesview home. However, before police could recover the stolen truck, the owners of the vehicle decided to perform their own investigation, using an AirTag left in the truck to do so.

The unnamed owners tracked the truck to a shopping center in Southeast Military Drive, reports KSAT. However, rather than wait for police to arrive, the truck owners decided to approach the vehicle and confront the suspect.

While it is unknown exactly what happened, Police say it seems the suspected thief may have pulled out their own firearm. The vehicle owner responded by shooting and killing the suspect while they were inside the truck.

It is unclear whether the vehicle owner will face charges over the matter, and an investigation is ongoing into whether the suspect actually had a weapon in the first place.

"I know that it's frustrating, but please do not take matters into your own hands," said SAPD public information officer Nick Soliz.

The escalation in violence serves as a reminder that it is not necessarily the best idea to chase after thieves, even if you have a way to track them down, such as by an AirTag. However, such risks haven't stopped others from attempting the same thing.

In February, AirTag helped police track down a stolen car in North Carolina, but the chase resulted in the vehicle being wrecked. In August 2022, a New York man found his stolen motorbike using AirTags, but ended up with a broken nose after being beaten by thieves.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,904moderator
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
    ravnorodomretrogustolordjohnwhorfinronndrdavidPetrolDavewilliamhAppHappyseanjblastdoor
  • Reply 2 of 46
    XedXed Posts: 2,911member
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
    I'm not sure what that's suppose to mean. That people in other US states (or even other countries) don't have a business or personal connection to their trucks? What about cars, SUVs, airplanes, boats, other vehicles, homes, and simply other personal belongings? Based on my experience, people love the expensive and useful products they've worked hard to obtain, and no one likes to feel violated by having these items broken into, vandalized, or stolen.
    edited April 2023 DooofusravnorodomlkruppCluntBaby92twokatmewmarklarkJanNLwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 46
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
     Yeah, the meek shall inherit the Earth, right? Be a scared little vole and hand over your keys, your wallet, your daughter if demanded, right? There's a reason some states have Castle Doctrines, Stand Your Ground Laws, and Concealed Carry Laws. "Oh please, Mr. Thug, don't hurt me"

    As for the police? Gimme a break. They have bigger fish to fry than a stolen truck.
    edited April 2023 mrstepCluntBaby92marklarksvogonJanNLjust cruisin
  • Reply 4 of 46
    slickdealerslickdealer Posts: 71member
    F around and find out 
    mrstepCluntBaby92marklarkwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 46
    chutzpahchutzpah Posts: 392member
    Guy was foolish, it easily could have ended very differently, better to let the police take care of it.
    ronndrdavidtwokatmewradarthekatseanjblastdoordewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 46
    mrstepmrstep Posts: 524member
    lkrupp said:
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
     Yeah, the meek shall inherit the Earth, right? Be a scared little vole and hand over your keys, your wallet, your daughter if demanded, right? There's a reason some states have Castle Doctrines, Stand Your Ground Laws, and Concealed Carry Laws. "Oh please, Mr. Thug, don't hurt me"

    As for the police? Gimme a break. They have bigger fish to fry than a stolen truck.
    No doubt. The police will be there for you after you're a victim.  If you care about the safety of your family and yourself, exercise your 2A rights and don't depend on "first responders" - they're responding to a crime that's already happened.
    waveparticlemarklarkJanNL
  • Reply 7 of 46
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 3,087member
    mrstep said:
    lkrupp said:
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
     Yeah, the meek shall inherit the Earth, right? Be a scared little vole and hand over your keys, your wallet, your daughter if demanded, right? There's a reason some states have Castle Doctrines, Stand Your Ground Laws, and Concealed Carry Laws. "Oh please, Mr. Thug, don't hurt me"

    As for the police? Gimme a break. They have bigger fish to fry than a stolen truck.
    No doubt. The police will be there for you after you're a victim.  If you care about the safety of your family and yourself, exercise your 2A rights and don't depend on "first responders" - they're responding to a crime that's already happened.
    I have never owned a gun
    i never will own a gun
    i do not allow guns in my house
    nothing good ever resulted from a gun.
    lordjohnwhorfindrdavidtenthousandthingstwokatmewradarthekatAlex_Vseanjblastdoortokyojimusunman42
  • Reply 8 of 46
    lordjohnwhorfinlordjohnwhorfin Posts: 872member
    For the numbskulls who say well done, now the truck owner is facing murder charges, prison, crazy legal bills. Yeah, it’s annoying to have a car stolen. Don’t be an idiot. Call the cops. There are enough stories of cops recovering cars and bikes to shut up the idiots who claim cops won’t do anything.
    ronndrdaviddewmejeffharrisretrogustoradarthekatWhiskeyAPPLEcidersflagelseanjblastdoor
  • Reply 9 of 46
    greginpraguegreginprague Posts: 492member
    For the numbskulls who say well done, now the truck owner is facing murder charges, prison, crazy legal bills. Yeah, it’s annoying to have a car stolen. Don’t be an idiot. Call the cops. There are enough stories of cops recovering cars and bikes to shut up the idiots who claim cops won’t do anything.
    Can you please link the article indicating the truck owner is facing charges?  Everything I can find just says police are investigating to see if the thief actually had a weapon, which could impact whether charges are filed.  If the thief had a gun it’s highly unlikely that the owner will face charges.

    I’m not promoting gun use, just pointing out that your post seems to be jumping to major conclusions in this specific instance.
    edited April 2023 M68000jas99PetrolDavemarklarkJanNLwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 46
    kestralkestral Posts: 311member
    I see nothing wrong with this. The truck owner should be acquitted.
    mrstepbloggerblogmarklarktbornotwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 46
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,040member
    If thieves knew there was a good chance of that, you’d see less thieves.  
    marklarkJanNLtbornotwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 46
    mrstepmrstep Posts: 524member
    DAalseth said:
    mrstep said:
    lkrupp said:
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
     Yeah, the meek shall inherit the Earth, right? Be a scared little vole and hand over your keys, your wallet, your daughter if demanded, right? There's a reason some states have Castle Doctrines, Stand Your Ground Laws, and Concealed Carry Laws. "Oh please, Mr. Thug, don't hurt me"

    As for the police? Gimme a break. They have bigger fish to fry than a stolen truck.
    No doubt. The police will be there for you after you're a victim.  If you care about the safety of your family and yourself, exercise your 2A rights and don't depend on "first responders" - they're responding to a crime that's already happened.
    I have never owned a gun
    i never will own a gun
    i do not allow guns in my house
    nothing good ever resulted from a gun.
    "Nothing good ever resulted from a gun."

    Considering people have used them to put food on the table, defend themselves from robberies, assaults, and attempted rapes, and to resist oppression, that's obviously debatable.

    As to the rest, not a problem, though someone with actual criminal intent wouldn't really care if you declare your home gun-free. In the end. you don't have to take advantage of your rights though, just don't try to take mine and we're cool.
    marklarkJanNLwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 46
    CluntBaby92CluntBaby92 Posts: 25member
    Really poor timing publishing this article, given the events that went down in Tennessee this week. Is AI anti-gun now too? I’m not saying what the truck owner was right, but the timing of this article being published couldn’t be any worse, given the anti-gun rhetoric being pushed down people’s throats again this week.  
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 46
    XedXed Posts: 2,911member
    Really poor timing publishing this article, given the events that went down in Tennessee this week. Is AI anti-gun now too? I’m not saying what the truck owner was right, but the timing of this article being published couldn’t be any worse, given the anti-gun rhetoric being pushed down people’s throats again this week.  
    Why is the answer to every firearm-related tragedy that it's not a good time to discuss firearms? Can you imagine if we did that for aviation? Can you imagine something saying, "It's a tragedy that this plane has crashed but now it not a good time to look into why it crashed so we can prevent it the future."

    The funny thing it's only ammosexuals that think this way. For instance, do you think that  officer Nick Soliz is against firearms simply because he's quoted for suggesting that civilians shouldn't take these matters into your own hands?

    PS: If the media waits for a day when there are no shootings to post an article that involves a shooting then when would they ever write about it? Ah, I just answered my own question because that's exactly what you want to happen.
    radarthekatronnAlex_Vseanjwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 46
    wookie01wookie01 Posts: 54member
     “Guns don’t kill people, AirTags kill people”
  • Reply 16 of 46
    charles1charles1 Posts: 92member
    Repo Man - Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton - 1984
    marklarkwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 46
    chutzpahchutzpah Posts: 392member
    DAalseth said:
    mrstep said:
    lkrupp said:
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
     Yeah, the meek shall inherit the Earth, right? Be a scared little vole and hand over your keys, your wallet, your daughter if demanded, right? There's a reason some states have Castle Doctrines, Stand Your Ground Laws, and Concealed Carry Laws. "Oh please, Mr. Thug, don't hurt me"

    As for the police? Gimme a break. They have bigger fish to fry than a stolen truck.
    No doubt. The police will be there for you after you're a victim.  If you care about the safety of your family and yourself, exercise your 2A rights and don't depend on "first responders" - they're responding to a crime that's already happened.
    I have never owned a gun
    i never will own a gun
    i do not allow guns in my house
    nothing good ever resulted from a gun.
    I have some sympathy for the sentiment, but if it weren't for the gun Hitler might have got away.
    williamhmarklarkwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 46
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,343member
    kestral said:
    I see nothing wrong with this. The truck owner should be acquitted.

    And that's the problem.

    Welcome to America, where guns are a solution to a problem or a grievance.. Sad and needs to change.
    radarthekatronnCheeseFreezeseanjwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 46
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,343member
    chutzpah said:
    DAalseth said:
    mrstep said:
    lkrupp said:
    Texans love their trucks, but a truck isn’t worth throwing your life away for.  That goes for both the thief and the owner.  Better to give the police the location and let them deal with it.  Goes without saying, I suppose.  
     Yeah, the meek shall inherit the Earth, right? Be a scared little vole and hand over your keys, your wallet, your daughter if demanded, right? There's a reason some states have Castle Doctrines, Stand Your Ground Laws, and Concealed Carry Laws. "Oh please, Mr. Thug, don't hurt me"

    As for the police? Gimme a break. They have bigger fish to fry than a stolen truck.
    No doubt. The police will be there for you after you're a victim.  If you care about the safety of your family and yourself, exercise your 2A rights and don't depend on "first responders" - they're responding to a crime that's already happened.
    I have never owned a gun
    i never will own a gun
    i do not allow guns in my house
    nothing good ever resulted from a gun.
    I have some sympathy for the sentiment, but if it weren't for the gun Hitler might have got away.

    What? Hitler committed suicide. He wasn't taken out by someone else's gun.

    radarthekatCheeseFreezeseanjtokyojimu
  • Reply 20 of 46
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,343member
    CluntBaby92 said:
    Really poor timing publishing this article, given the events that went down in Tennessee this week. Is AI anti-gun now too? I’m not saying what the truck owner was right, but the timing of this article being published couldn’t be any worse, given the anti-gun rhetoric being pushed down people’s throats again this week.  

    I'm more concerned about your question and your viewpoint. Yikes.

    radarthekatronnCheeseFreezeblastdoorwatto_cobra
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