Robbers use Apple Watch to track and steal $500,000 in cash from drug dealers

According to federal prosecutors with the US Department of Justice, a group of robbers in New York City used an Apple Watch to track a drug dealer and then stole $500,000 in cash.

Records show that this group of seven robbers, residing in the Hudson Valley area, carried out this operation in January 2020. The alleged leader of the group, 30-year-old Darren Lindsay, bought an Apple Watch and linked it to his AT&T network account.

The group then hid the device under the bumper of a car, owned by a drug dealer they suspected was carrying large amounts of cash. The group then used the Apple Watch feature to track the drug dealer to a hotel parking lot in Connecticut.

Image showing the Find My feature on Apple Watch.

When the car was found, one of the members smashed the back window with a gun, but no cash was found inside. Two members of the group are said to have tracked the vehicle overnight. It was not until the next day that the robbers returned and found the driver of the vehicle.

The group grabbed the owner of the car and pushed him inside a car. A gun carried by Lindsay fired twice during the altercation, but no one was hit. The group is said to have violently assaulted the man and taken all of his personal belongings, including the hotel key card. In the room, they found and took away a bag with $500,000 in cash inside.

The group then returned to Middletown, New York to split the spoils and take selfies in front of piles of cash on the table.

Selfie with a stack of stolen cash from the group.

In July, members of the gang were indicted on a series of charges between 2019 and 2020. Details of the January 2020 robbery were not made public until federal prosecutors until Tuesday of this week.

Prosecutors say that all evidence information is supported by detailed cellular data from Lindsay’s own Apple Watch and the smartphones of the defendants in the case.

Apple Watch and other Apple devices have been used many times in the past to help catch criminals or return stolen property. However, it is becoming more common for an Apple product to be used by criminals themselves.

Refer to AppleInsider