Apple Airtags lead to large-scale bike theft recovery

Unfortunately, if your bike is stolen there is usually little chance you will see it again, which is why we do love a story about a bike being recovered and returned to its rightful owner. Or, in this case, a whole van load of them, which were seized while on the move by the Vail Police Department in Colorado – all thanks to a couple of Apple Airtags.

The story was unearthed in court documents and published in Summit Daily and subsequently US Velo.

It began with one man having a pair of bikes stolen from outside his condo complex and culminated in police uncovering evidence linking dozens of thefts to the same person, who has now been charged, following a two-year investigation.

The bikes that kicked off the saga were a pair of Specialized Stumpjumpers, stolen from the condo complex in 2022. Using the Airtags, visible on Apple's Find My app, police located them in a Denver suburb, before the bikes quickly began moving south on Interstate 25.

A detective and an officer took up the chase, following the van until it pulled in at a truck stop at Walsenburg, south-east Colorado.

After an initial search, police found one of the missing Stumpjumpers and the van was impounded leading to a further 17 bikes being found. The owner of the van denied any knowledge that the stolen bikes were on board.

Now, after a two-year investigation, police have linked the suspect to nearly three dozen bike thefts in the Eagle and Summit Counties, as well as Boulder and Aspen, from August to September 2022.

Apple's Airtags – little discs with GPS tracking capability – are used by many to protect their bikes in the event of a theft and have been the author of numerous similar success stories.

Take journalist Jim Waterson, for example. He, ironically, was in the process of setting up an investigation into bike theft when he had his own electric cargo bike stolen from outside his home.

Thanks to his Airtag, he tracked his bike down and was able to reclaim it – albeit with little help from the police.

Let's not allow Airtags to grab all the glory though. As the saying goes, "other brands are available". In fact there are a whole bunch on the market, in different shapes, sizes and price points. Check out our up-to-the-minute round-up here.