How To Catch Package Pirates: California Woman Gets Revenge

We've all heard stories about mail theft, but one woman in Santa Barbara County decided she'd had enough. After falling victim to repeated mail thefts, she devised a clever plan to catch the culprits red-handed. And her secret weapon? An Apple AirTag.

How One Woman Outsmarted Mail Thieves with an Apple AirTag

Consistently stolen packages were exactly what this woman was dealing with at the Los Alamos Post Office in the Santa Maria Valley. She had been the target of mail thieves multiple times, and it was time to put an end to it.

So, she got creative. She decided to send herself an Apple AirTag—a small tracking device that connects to your phone and provides real-time GPS location updates. The idea was simple: let the thieves take the bait and then track them down.

The Package On The Run

On a Monday, her plan came to fruition. Once again, her mail was stolen, but this time, the AirTag was inside. She contacted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, and deputies quickly responded. With the AirTag's tracking data in hand, they followed the trail to Santa Maria, where they found the suspects—and not just her stolen mail, but items belonging to dozens of other victims.

Read More: Pennsylvania Package Pirates Caught On Video Fighting Over Stolen 

Who Were The Package Pirates?

The two suspects, Virginia Franchessca Lara, 27, of Santa Maria, and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, of Riverside, were arrested and booked into jail. Both now face serious felony charges, including possession of stolen checks and credit cards, identity theft, and burglary. Lara's bail is set at $50,000, while Terry, who is also wanted for multiple thefts in Riverside County, faces a hefty $460,000 bail.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office praised the woman for her "proactive solution" and for wisely involving law enforcement instead of confronting the thieves herself. Thanks to her quick thinking, not only was her mail recovered, but so was mail from many other victims.

The investigation is still ongoing, and detectives are working to contact additional victims.