Man tracks stolen AirPods to Southwest Side truck stop; SAPD arrests 4, recovers stolen property

SAN ANTONIO – A man who had his car stolen and his work van burglarized overnight, tracked his AirPods to find the suspects at a Southwest Side truck stop.

Dawayne Arrington told KSAT that he noticed his possessions were stolen at about 4:30 a.m. as he was getting ready to leave for the gym from his Leon Valley home.

“(I) noticed that my AirPods was missing and immediately went to my iPhone and tracked it,” Arrington said.

He used the “Find My” app from Apple to locate the AirPods at a Love’s Travel Stop on Interstate 35 near Fischer Road.

Arrington drove to the location and found five people asleep in an SUV. As he called the police, some of the people in the SUV got out and ran. He said he tackled one of them just as the suspect reached for a gun in his waistband.

“As I got closer to him, I saw that he was reaching for something in his pocket and it turned out to be, it looked like a small caliber gun,” Arrington said.

San Antonio police arrived and took the four suspects into custody. A fifth person drove away in the SUV. Police started to pursue the vehicle, but stopped after the driver reached speeds of about 100 mph.

Arrington said the SUV was banged up and had a broken steering column and paper tags.

Police were able to recover Arrington’s stolen AirPods along with other property which they believe was taken during other reported car burglaries in Leon Valley overnight.