KIRTLAND, Ohio (WJW) – A police officer has a frightening warning for everyone after his sister was targeted in a sinister scheme.
“She drives an expensive car, so that leads me to believe that this is an attempted carjacking,” said Kirtland, Ohio, police officer Joseph Gibson.
His sister was driving home from fireworks in the Greater Cleveland Area on the 4th of July when she heard something hit her vehicle and thought it was a rock.
When she arrived home, a couple pulled up to her house and came to her door.
“My sister opened up the upstairs window, greeted them and a female stated that my sister had her cellphone,” he said.
She noticed two other unfamiliar cars nearby running with their lights off on the cul-de-sac and refused to come outside.
She offered to call the police and all three vehicles left.
The next day, after speaking with her brother, she checked her vehicle and found a cellphone magnetized and stuck to the car.
“They were able to use the iPhone tracking to follow her,” he said, “And if you were looking for your cell phone, you would’ve called it. They weren’t too concerned about the cellphone. They just wanted my sister to come out of the house.”
It’s a terrifying thought about what could’ve happened, he said, but it’s a common set up tactic criminals use and Officer Gibson saw when he worked in Washington D.C.
He said sometimes air tags or similar GPS tracking devices are applied.
“I felt the need to alert the public. No matter what city you live in, be careful,” he said.
Some safety tips include changing your routine, not stopping when something hits your vehicle and driving to a police station if you’re in a fender bender, or staying in the vehicle until police arrive.
He said never open the door for strangers, especially anyone who follows you home.
“If my sister had not looked and saw the other cars, she would’ve been a victim,” he said. “We go back to what our parents told us: don’t open the door for strangers, don’t talk to strangers.”
The incident was reported to Cleveland police, but unfortunately, cameras did not record the suspects and so far no one has been identified.
