LAS VEGAS (KTNV) – A lot of people have Apple AirTags to help track keys, backpacks or luggage, but one Nevada man says it can also help track your car if it gets stolen, which is what happened to him.
“Originally, I thought the car had just been towed,” said Blake Herman, who lives in the Lone Mountain area.
Herman said he woke up one morning, and his car was gone.
”Once I saw it was at somebody’s address, I got up and I was going to drive over there and get it back,” he said.
His black Toyota Camry had a tiny Apple AirTag inside. It pinged at a home near Nellis Air Force Base across town.
Herman said he called police, but before they arrived, he went there.
”I was on the phone, and I let them know I was behind it and that we were moving, and they said they, ‘Well, we don’t pursue stolen vehicles,’” he said.
Herman said he jumped in his other car, a Tesla, which has cameras and records video outside of the car. It took video of him following his own car.
”We got into a little pursuit, maybe a minute to two minutes, into me being behind him, that I was following him,” he said. “We started doing laps. He cut through a community park. I was behind him the whole way. … Ultimately I cornered him, and he got out. He ran through a storm drain and walked back home.”
Herman said he doesn’t know how the suspect broke into his car because it didn’t appear to be too damaged aside from the driver’s side door.
“Yeah, it was not popped off but popped out,” he said of the door panel.
He said he found knives in the backseat and a portable air conditioner in his trunk.
Herman said he snapped a photo of the man walking away and said he told police which house the suspect was in.
”I think I got a response from them three hours later,” he said.
The police said it’s still an open investigation weeks after it all happened.
Herman said he hopes police can do something.
”I haven’t heard anything,” he said.
Herman says the $25 AirTag turned out to be a good investment.
The former Marine said his safety did cross his mind, but he took the situation into his own hands.
”Yeah, he definitely picked the wrong house,” he said.
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