Woman Mailed Herself AirTag To Catch RivCo Package Thief: Police

LOS ALAMOS, CA — A woman whose mail was repeatedly stolen sent herself an AirTag to help police find the thieves, including a Riverside man, according to authorities.

The woman sent the locator device to her box at the Los Alamos Post Office and deputies learned around 7:15 a.m. Monday that mail had been stolen, including the package with the trackable AirTag, police said.

The suspects — 37-year-old Donald Ashton Terry of Riverside and 27-year-old Virginia Franchessca Lara of Santa Maria — were found in the 600 block of East Sunrise Drive in Santa Maria with the woman’s mail, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. The duo also had items thought to be stolen from over a dozen other people, police said.

The pair were booked into Northern Branch Jail for charges including credit card theft, identity theft, conspiracy and possession of checks with intent to commit fraud, according to police. Terry was also charged with burglary and Lara was also charged with fictitious checks, police said, adding Terry’s bail was $460,000 and Lara’s was $50,000.

“The Sheriff’s Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution, while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects,” the office said in a news release.