AirTag Helps Santa Barbara Police Nab Teen Suspect in Armed E-Bike Robbery
Police Say Three Suspects Are in Custody After Group of Knife-Wielding Juveniles Stole Two E-Bikes from Pair of 15-Year-Olds
An AirTag tracking device helped Santa Barbara police nab one of three suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in an armed robbery that took place Saturday afternoon in a downtown parking lot, where two teens say a knife-wielding group of juveniles stole their e-bikes.
In a statement released over the weekend, Santa Barbara Police say they received a 9-1-1 call shortly after 3:30 p.m. to report the armed robbery in the City Lot 10 parking lot off Ortega Street. According to police, the victims said they were riding their e-bikes at the top of the lot when they were approached by a group of six to eight juveniles who brandished a knife and robbed them of their bikes.
“Several officers saturated the downtown corridor,” according to police, where they located two of the suspects riding one of the stolen e-bikes. Police say the suspects then ditched the bike and led police on a foot chase, knocking an elderly man to the ground during the pursuit. Officers detained the two suspects and located a knife on one of them. The man was treated for a minor abrasion by medics at the scene.
Meanwhile, one of the victim’s was able to provide police with the real-time whereabouts of the second stolen e-bike thanks to a location-tracking AirTag attached to the bike. That led police to the abandoned bike and the third subject, who was found nearby, positively identified as the suspect, and arrested.
All three of the 15-year-old suspects were booked in Santa Barbara County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of felony robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime, as well as misdemeanor elder abuse. Juveniles are not eligible for bail, and the case will be forwarded to Juvenile Probation for adjudication.
This is not the first time an AirTag has helped Santa Barbara authorities apprehend a suspect. In August, a woman who suspected her mail was being stolen from her PO Box at the Los Alamos Post Office mailed herself a package containing an AirTag, which was stolen and subsequently used by sheriff’s deputies to locate and arrest the two suspected thieves in Santa Maria. And in October 2023, UC Santa Barbara police located a bicycle stolen from campus and 17 others in a storage facility on upper State Street with the help of the tracking device.