I suspect there has to be more evidence than just the AirTag, but it is possible that the police used that tip to kick off an investigation that ultimately led to the warrant and search. Or they already started building a case. Based off the estimated 15,000 stolen tools, this theft ring was in the millions of dollars and was quite possibly already on their radar.
Warrant doesn't mean they had to go all storm trooper in that situation either, that would lower the risks.
I suspect just one more data point would be pretty easy to manage, peek in a window, or even have the dude drive around the facility and see if the location was consistently reporting.
Need to stick a camera on something like the Optimus 3 tracker with gps/cellular then although itβs already pretty large. Then you have proof where it is and pictures of the inside of the place.
Storage unit. You can drive right up to the door and use the precision tracking to confirm it's in there. And it's single story so you're not going to have a problem with it being upstairs. They might also have had permission from the owner to hunt for the tag.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/us/denver-police-raid-wrong-h...
I suspect there has to be more evidence than just the AirTag, but it is possible that the police used that tip to kick off an investigation that ultimately led to the warrant and search. Or they already started building a case. Based off the estimated 15,000 stolen tools, this theft ring was in the millions of dollars and was quite possibly already on their radar.