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Apple Air Tag leads police to serial gun thief

Photo shows firearms seized at recent investigation by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

An Apple Air Tag is being credited with assisting in the capture of a suspected serial gun thief in the Charlotte area after the GPS device was stolen in a backpack and later found by officers from the North Division, North Tryon Division and Independence Division of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department while they were investigating a larceny from a series of auto thefts, which resulted in the confiscation of multiple firearms.

According to a recent press release from the CMPD, on May 15, the North Division reported multiple locations hit by a suspect breaking into vehicles and stealing items. The suspect was later identified as Javiere Green. Police suspect that Green broke into the vehicles of 14 different victims.

Police in North Carolina’s largest city say they broke a 7-year-old record last month for the number of guns seized by officers in a month.

Officers learned that one of the victims had an Apple Air Tag (GPS device) attached to his stolen backpack. The stolen item was tracked down to a home on Glory Street in the North Tryon Division by officers. Police say that Green bolted out the rear entrance of the house and sped away in a white vehicle when authorities arrived.

Officers continued to track the Apple Air Tag to Fernwood Drive, where Green was taken into custody. Officers located six guns inside the stolen backpack. The firearms did not belong to the owner of the backpack.

Green was arrested and faces charges including 14 counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle, six counts of felony larceny, and three counts of possession of a stolen firearm.

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Robb Crocker is a digital editor with WFAE. Originally from New Jersey, Robb grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, where majored in print and broadcast journalism and also studied English and creative writing. He earned a Master's degree in Communication from Rutgers University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at VCU's Media, Art & Text program. He is a veteran news/sports reporter and digital editor with stints at the Washington Post, Hanley Wood magazines, Richmond.com, WTVR CBS 6 and WRIC ABC 8. He has also produced the Writing Our Way Out podcast.