Apple AirTag shows stolen gun’s location but owner hasn’t gotten it back

By Jenna Rae

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    ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — Outbreaks of crime across St. Louis City and Downtown have continued in recent months. This weekend brought even more shootings and car break-ins. One Metro man is speaking out after his property was stolen and said police aren’t helping him get it back. His main concern is that it could be used to commit a crime.

“When I closed the door I heard glass shatter and I was like ‘Oh man.’ So, I looked behind the passenger door and the window was busted and my bag was gone,” Daniel Portell said.

Portell parked his car in a parking lot near 11th and Clark Street around 11:30p.m. Friday. When he came out less than an hour later, he realized he was the latest theft victim. His bigger concern is still lingering after he learned what was stolen.

“My Glock 17 with two additional clips with ammunition in them. It was in a lock box,” Portell said.

Portell told News 4 he doesn’t typically leave his gun in his car but said he wasn’t going to be gone long and was going inside a place where he didn’t want to have it. He said he called police while simultaneously tracking the gun on his phone with an Apple Air Tag he placed on it months ago. It’s something, he said, he thought would help police get his personal property back.

“They asked me to describe it. I’m not too sure how many other people memorize a serial number off the gun, but they were definitely worried about that,” Portell explained.

That’s despite Portell having the gun’s active location, which has been at the same Ferguson apartment since the theft.

“My biggest concern is them [suspects] going out and doing the worst things possible, and that’s putting someone else’s life in danger or causing harm,” Portell said.

It’s a stolen weapon that’s registered in Portell’s name.

“Anytime you have a situation like this, even you have the slightest lead, I think with the amount of unresolved cases they have, I would think they’d want to be urgent,” Portell added.

Portell said St. Louis Metropolitan Police did take a report of the break-in and theft. However, since the gun is in Ferguson, SLMPD allegedly told Portell he had to get in contact with them. We’ve reached out to both departments to see what protocols are in place to retrieve Portell’s personal items and if an Apple Air Tag is enough probable cause for a search warrant.

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