Updated with more reports of stolen motorcycles found with AirTags that cannot be recovered.
AirTags are great for finding lost bags, pets, and keys. Apple’s item tracker, however, is no match for property theft — especially when vehicles are involved.
Take this news out of Chicago we first shared in July, for example, where someone tracked down their stolen motorcycle using Find My.
The owner knows exactly where the bike was taken, thanks to the AirTag under the seat. However, police can only respond if the bike is seen out in the open.
Unless the bike is spotted on the street, a garage door is preventing the AirTag location from being actionable. Despite knowing exactly where the stolen bike is, the owner’s only option is to file an insurance claim as if the bike’s location was unknown.
The 36-year-old told NBC Chicago he hid an Apple AirTag underneath his motorcycle seat after hearing stories about carjackings and vehicle thefts in the city.
“Highly frustrating with having an AirTag on it,” he said. “It’s kinda like a gift and a curse if you will. The gift is knowing where it’s at; the curse is not having any assistance from CPD.”
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Here in Alaska, a local facebook group has a better track record recovering stolen vehicles than the actual police do.
Their reaction was to arrest the group's founder for "vigilantism," even though he preaches non-confrontational ways of recovering vehicles once they've been located by other members and so far none of those attempts have been linked to acts of violence.
Two more motorcycles were lifted off the streets of Chicago and traced with AirTags this week. Just like the episode last month, police were unable to provide much help despite knowing the location of the stolen bikes. From NBC Chicago on August 16:
He said officers ended up doing a door knock on three separate occasions, but no one came to the door.
“I was informed that it’s possible they can get a search warrant if there’s an exact location with the GPS,” he explained. “But I had a friend who spoke with a detective, unless it’s a life-threatening situation that they can not even– if they do have the location.”
The victim and his neighbor are livid knowing the crooks are getting away with the crime.
A not-so-missing motorcycle is hardly the worst instance of an AirTag recovery story gone awry. Earlier this year, a 61-year-old woman was murdered after tracking down her stolen vehicle without contacting police.
The takeaway, however, should be to always contact authorities to deal with car theft — even if there’s little to nothing they can do. AirTags do often help police recover stolen vehicles, despite the unfortunate motorcycle situation.
On a lighter AirTag note, the governor of Minnesota has deployed an AirTag to track their adventurous cat who often attends weddings…
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