Man’s house keys were held for ransom in outlandish Florida extortion case, cops say

A man’s house keys are at the center of a strange extortion case that involved a $400 “ransom” demand, Florida officials said.

Instead of paying, the defiant victim used an Apple AirTag tracking device to lead deputies to a suspect 5 miles away, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reports.

The initial theft happened mid-November at a home in Lake Alfred, and coincided with a dispute involving an “intoxicated” acquaintance, the victim reported.

Not only were his house keys missing after the argument, but his wallet and vehicle keys were, too, officials said.

“A few days later, the victim re-contacted the Sheriff’s Office and said an Apple AirTag in his stolen wallet was showing that it was in (his acquaintance’s) house,” the sheriff’s office said.

Apple says its AirTags are accessed via an iPhone app and give users the “exact distance and direction to head in” when searching for a lost item.

Deputies made multiple visits to the 59-year-old suspect’s home in Winter Haven, resulting in several of the missing items being “found” on the property and returned to the victim, officials said.

The house keys mysteriously remained unaccounted for — until the victim received an odd phone call from the suspect, investigators said.

“He told his buddy that if he ever wanted to get his house keys back, he would have to pay (him) $400,” officials said.

“That’s right, (he) was holding his buddy’s house keys for ransom.”

A detective paid one more visit to the suspect’s home, this time to arrest him on charges of misdemeanor petit theft and felony extortion, officials said.

Lake Alfred is about 55 miles northeast of Tampa.

This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Man’s house keys were held for ransom in outlandish Florida extortion case, cops say."