Two suspects were arrested in connection with a series of mail thefts after they were tracked down using an AirTag locator device, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Early in the morning on Monday, August 19th, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department patrol units deputies responded to a report of mail theft at the United States Post Office in the sleepy rural community of Los Alamos. According to SBSD Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, the female victim, who had “experienced mail theft from her post office box on previous occasions,” had devised a plan to catch the thieves.
The pro-active woman told deputies that she had “mailed herself a package containing an AirTag device” in hopes of tracking her stolen mail. On Monday morning, the package was stolen again, but this time the AirTag allowed her to monitor the location of the stolen items.
Sheriff’s deputies were able to track the suspects to a residence in Santa Maria. Upon arrival, pursuant to elements of probable cause, the conducted a search of the premises and found the victim’s stolen mail, “including the package with the AirTag.” Also discovered during the course of the search, were items believed to have been stolen from more than a dozen other victims.
The suspects, identified as 27-year-old Santa Maria resident Virginia Franchessca Lara and 37-year-old Riverside, Ca. resident Donald Ashton Terry were taken into custody and transported to Santa Barbara County Northern Branch Jail where they were booked on charges of possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft, and conspiracy. Lara’s bail was set at $50,000.
For his part, Terry was charged with burglary, possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, credit card theft, identity theft, conspiracy, and multiple theft-related warrants out of Riverside County. He remains in custody with his bail set at $460,000.
