AirTag Alert on iPhone
Apple AirTags anti-stalking features worked great during the Connecticut incident, but the stalker remained on hold for almost a year freedom because he refused to report to the police.
Apple AirTags have brought attention to the problem of harassment, although Apple's own anti-harassment features have not always been successful. Now a man in Bridgeport, Connecticut has been identified and charged due to at least one AirTag alert sent to a driver's iPhone.
The woman, whose name has not been released, first received an alert about the device tracking her in February 2023, according to WTNH. At the time, she believed it was because a relative left behind a pair of AirPods in the car.
However, when she received a new warning on March 27, 2023, she searched her vehicle and found the AirTag. It was glued to the inside of the driver's side front wheel rim of her car.
She took the AirTag to Connecticut State Police Troop B, who, using Apple's anti-harassment feature, was able to read the AirTag's serial number. Apple has previously said it will always identify the owner of an AirTag when requested by law enforcement, and in this case a man named Anthony Magro was quickly identified.
The woman being pursued confirmed that she did not know the suspect.
However, finding out his name turned out to be the only quick part of the police work, as physically tracking him down took almost a year. They contacted him in May 2023 when he explained that he had moved to Bridgeport, but it is unclear how that contact was made.
It definitely wasn't in person because Magro reportedly told them he couldn't come to the B Troop location because he didn't drive.
On February 7, 2024, approximately 12 months after the first AirTag alert, Magro was taken into custody by local authorities and taken to Troop B.
Magro was subsequently released on February 16 at the Supreme Court Torrington will be charged with $10,000 cash/bond.
Read AppleInsider's guide on what to do if your iPhone says you've been AirTagged.
