Apple AirTag leads Aussie mates on daring 'mission' after alleged driveway theft
Unbeknownst to the alleged thief, some critical foresight meant the Melbourne man knew where his trailer had ended up.
When Harvey Miller walked outside his home and noticed his trailer was gone from where he'd parked it the night before, he soon knew exactly how he might track it down.
Thanks to the AirTag he had put on his trailer in case of this exact possibility, the Melbourne man was able to see where it had been taken to – ultimately leading him and his mates on a serious "mission".
Harvey told Yahoo News he had plans to use his trailer the following morning when he parked it outside his home in Elgar Park. But when it wasn't there, he had to take matters into his own hands.
"I usually have a lock on the front of the trailer and a lock on the wheel, but I thought I'm going to be using it tomorrow to move stuff, I'll just leave it. I can't be bothered," he recalled.
However it was a decision he later regretted, with the trailer gone some eight hours later.
"I first thought that maybe I'd parked it somewhere else, of course. And then it dawned on me and I felt kind of shook. Then I remembered the AirTag," he told Yahoo. The tracking device showed the trailer 40 kilometres away at the other side of the city, so Harvey jumped in his car, recruited some mates, and headed towards Laverton.
Unexpected discovery in quest to find stolen trailer
Harvey managed to find his trailer and even peeked through the alleged thief's fence to confirm it. He found it easily, but admits it was an unexpected sight when he first laid eyes on it.
"The interesting thing is that when he stole it, it was empty, and then we tracked it down a mere nine or so hours later, when we peered through his fence the trailer was stacked three metres high with junk. He managed to fill it to the brim... it was quite impressive," he said.
Harvey called the police who were able to attend the scene and get the trailer back. The vehicle was full of broken furniture and garden waste, meaning Harvey and his friends had a pretty solid clean up on their hands before getting it home.
Trailer thief allegedly now 'on the run' after missing court date
Harvey was able to drive home with his trailer that day in July but was told by the police the alleged offender has since skipped his court date and has not yet faced any repercussions for his actions.
"I've been notified from the police that the suspect did not show up to his court date, so he's officially on the run... it's quite thrilling," he mocked.
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