Texas man tracks stolen truck with Apple AirTag, shoots alleged thief

Authored by chron.com and submitted by jeetah

A San Antonio man is not expected to face charges after his car was stolen and a confrontation with the suspected thief ended in fatal gunfire on Wednesday, March 29, police said.

The man's vehicle was stolen from his Northside home on Wednesday afternoon, police said. But by using an Apple AirTag, he was able to track his truck down to a shopping center on the Southeast Side in the 3200 block of Southeast Military Drive.

SAPD spokesperson Nick Soliz said the man called police to report his vehicle as stolen, but did not wait for police to arrive before attempting to confront the suspected car thief around 4 p.m.

Police said the man saw his truck in the parking lot, walked up to the stolen vehicle in an attempt to confront the person inside, and some sort of disagreement ensued. Soliz said he could not confirm if the man and the suspected thief argued, but said the car theft victim told police he believed the suspected thief pulled out a gun which prompted "a firefight."

Police said that, at this time, they believe the car thief victim is the only person to have fired shots and could not confirm if there was more than one weapon found at the crime scene.

The suspected thief, another man, was shot and pronounced dead, Soliz said. His identity has not been released. The car theft victim reportedly stayed at the scene of the shooting, complied with police, and was taken into custody for questioning. The shooter is not expected to face charges, Soliz said, but noted an investigation is ongoing.

"... I urge the public to wait for police in this matter," Soliz said in a news conference. "Let us go with you. We have training."

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ApatheticWithoutTheA on April 2nd, 2023 at 06:17 UTC »

After my Grandma died, her house was hit by a ring of professional thieves. They stole everything down to the water heater and copper pipes. No joke. Like near 100k worth of stuff. All the family jewelry gone. All of the money she kept hidden (she lived through the end of the depression and was an orphan, she didn’t trust banks) gone.

The cops showed up, sounded annoyed, and told us to go check pawn shops ourselves. They didn’t even check any neighbors cameras.

The cops were not going to help him.

vtstang66 on April 2nd, 2023 at 04:33 UTC »

Same thing played out the same way recently in Denver. People here know the police will almost certainly do nothing to help in this situation, so of course they take matters into their own hands. This will happen more and more.

mrgtiguy on April 2nd, 2023 at 03:17 UTC »

A dead guy can’t testify is an old old saying.