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Airtags help catch councilman's family accused of stealing signs calling for him to be recalled
Family members of a local councilman have been arrested after allegedly stealing signs promoting a recall campaign against their loved one. A family using Apple AirTags to catch the suspects, after their suspected crime was caught on camera. FOX 5’s Bob Barnard has the story from Fauquier County.
FAUQUIER COUNTY, Va. - Family members of a local councilman have been arrested after allegedly stealing signs promoting a recall campaign against their loved one.
The family whose sign was repeatedly being stolen then used Apple AirTags to catch the suspects, after their crime was caught on camera.
Signs stolen
What we know:
Just off of Winchester Street in Warrenton, you can see one of the signs that kept getting stolen, advertising an effort to recall a member of the Warrenton Town Council.
"Paul Mooney called my husband to ask if we would take the signs down, and we said no, and then the next day they were stolen," Warrenton homeowner Karen Lavarnway told FOX 5.
As first reported by the Fauquier Times, Lavarnway says she and her husband placed a security camera on the outside of their house after the second time one of the recall signs was taken from their side yard.
The camera would capture the sign being stolen a third and fourth time.
The AirTags
Couple gets creative:
This was all in January, and Lavarnway says after the third theft, she and her husband decided to place an Apple AirTag in the sign.
"It was actually my brother-in-law's idea. He's a retired chief of police and he was the one who suggested it," Lavarnway said. "I was like, brilliant. Why didn't I think of that myself?"
The AirTag eventually led police to the home of the town councilmember Paul Mooney.
Now, his wife, Kelley Mooney, and mother-in-law, Colleen Koehr, have been charged with petit larceny.
Investigation continues
What's next:
Warrenton police say they turned over the investigation of this case to the Virginia State Police, so there's no conflict of interest.
There are questions about whether these signs are on private or public property. Lavarnway has her opinion on that.
"As long as you're following the rules, the town rules of where signs should be and what size they should be, people shouldn't be coming and messing with your things, whether you agree with it or not. That's like what's so great about being an American and having free speech. Let's not trample on that," she said.
Lavarnway says the recall movement here involves three members of the town council having to do with issues of transparency.
FOX 5 has reached out to Councilmember Mooney and the attorney for the two women arrested. We are still waiting to hear back.