A Waco, Texas, man has been arrested after allegedly placing an Apple AirTag in a woman’s car to track her, according to reports.
KWTX in Waco reported that 39-year-old Hugo Mendez was charged with illegally installing a tracking device.
In a court affidavit obtained by the department, police allege that the woman started receiving AirTag notifications on her phone on August 14, 2023.
The woman told police that she did not own an air tag and found the notification suspicious.
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Hugo Mendes is accused of placing Apple AirTags under cars to track their owners. (McLennan County Jail)
After searching for an AirTag device nearby, she eventually discovered a magnetic box attached to the underside of the car, according to the affidavit.
Inside the metal box was an Apple AirTag. This is a tracking device intended to track your personal belongings if they are lost. Since its introduction to the market, the device, which is nearly a quarter of its size, has been used for nefarious purposes, including tracking potential victims.
When police learned of the investigation, they obtained a subpoena and sent it to Apple, which later determined the tracker belonged to Mendez.
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A Texas man allegedly placed an Apple AirTag in a woman’s car to track her. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
When police called Mendez, he admitted to placing the device in the woman’s car, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also states that Mendez told police he believed the woman had crashed into his car and fled the scene. Police then tracked her car to find the culprit, police said.
After following the vehicle, Mendez allegedly told police that he waited for the driver to return to the vehicle, but that he never returned.
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Apple AirTags allow you to track lost items. (apple)
Instead, he placed the AirTag in a magnetic box and attached it to the vehicle, court documents allege.
The McLennan County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for additional information regarding the charges against the suspect.
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Mendez was eventually arrested and held in the McLennan County Jail with a $2,000 bond.
