AirTag found taped to couple’s car after ‘terrifying home invasion,’ FL cops say
An AirTag was found taped beneath a married couple’s car after authorities said they were held at gunpoint and forced into their garage during a “terrifying home invasion.”
Two men, Luis Charles, 26, and Omardy Maldonado-Rodriguez, 32, have been linked to the Aug. 19 ambush at the couple’s Odessa home, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced Oct. 13.
Charles was arrested in Tampa on Oct. 8, and Maldonado-Rodriguez was taken into custody in Pasco County on Oct. 10, authorities said in a news release. They are charged with armed burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery and armed kidnapping.
Information on their legal representation was not immediately available.
Footage shared by the sheriff’s office shows the moment two men approached the couple from behind their vehicle as they got out of their car, which was parked in their driveway, on Aug. 19. One of the men appears to be wearing a bright orange construction safety vest.
The men are then seen forcefully grabbing the couple and walking them away from their vehicle.
Charles and Maldonado-Rodriguez forced them into their garage at gunpoint, then fled “when an alarm was triggered,” the sheriff’s office said.
The couple did not know either man, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Hannah Oliveto confirmed to McClatchy News on Oct. 15.
The sheriff’s office is investigating whether the couple was randomly targeted and whether Charles and Maldonado-Rodriguez taped the AirTag onto their car, Oliveto said.
Charles and Maldonado-Rodriguez did not have a criminal history prior to Aug. 19, according to the sheriff’s office. A sexual battery charge has been added to Charles, according to Oliveto.
“To be ambushed at gunpoint in the very place you should feel safest is every family’s worst nightmare,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 7:45 AM with the headline "AirTag found taped to couple’s car after ‘terrifying home invasion,’ FL cops say."