Local mom gets kids’ stolen dirt bikes back by tracking them with AirTags

VALE, N.C. — A mom took matters into her own hands when someone stole her children’s dirt bikes from their Catawba County home.

The mother told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they hid Apple AirTags on the seven dirt bikes.

Catawba Co- thieves break into a home and steal tens of thousands of dollars of dirt bikes. But a local mom tracks down those stolen bikes three hours away in Raleigh. The story tonight on channel 9 eyewitness news at 5:30. pic.twitter.com/hHWxVu5oIG
— Dave Faherty (@FahertyWSOC9) April 24, 2024

Not a day goes by that Dustin and Lindsay Moretz’s kids aren’t enjoying their dirt bikes. They ride them on trails around the family’s home.

But that almost ended for them when surveillance cameras at their home captured four people stealing seven bikes out of their garage. The thieves were gone in under 5 minutes.

Thieves steal dirt bikes from Catawba County home A mom took matters into her own hands when someone stole her children’s dirt bikes from their Catawba County home. The mother told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they hid Apple AirTags on the seven dirt bikes.

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“Me and my husband have worked so hard to provide this life for my children. And for them to take away the stability and safety away from my home, away from my kids, disgusts me,” Lindsay Moretz said.

When the bikes were stolen, Lindsay was at work and Dustin was more than 2,000 miles away on a job in California.

“Definitely made me nervous but my wife is smart,” Dustin said.

He said Lindsay began tracking the stolen bikes using the AirTags on them. She tracked them down Interstate 40 to a neighborhood in Raleigh.

Lindsay has a concealed carry permit, but also alerted the highway patrol she was going to get her children’s dirt bikes back.

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“I called the highway patrol, and I was like 10 minutes out, and I told them they should make it there before I do,” she said.

Catawba County mom Lindsay Moretz A mom took matters into her own hands when someone stole her children’s dirt bikes from their Catawba County home. The mother told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they hid Apple AirTags on the seven dirt bikes.

They did make it there. She said authorities in Raleigh got a search warrant and found the bikes in a trailer.

Dustin Moretz is thankful his wife got the bikes back and hopes the people responsible are caught.

“Super proud. Super proud,” he said. “She’s a beast. They always say don’t poke mama bear -- I guess they mean it.”

So far, no arrests have been made in the case. A detective in Catawba County is working with the family and checking to see if the theft is connected to any others in the area, including more than a dozen bikes stolen from a shop in Charlotte.

(WATCH BELOW: Police say Apple AirTag helped catch serial thief)