PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Port St. Lucie woman is speaking out after discovering a hidden Bluetooth tracking device on her car that was allegedly placed there by her boyfriend.<\/p>\n
Her story comes just weeks after our reporting on the hidden dangers of Apple AirTags and other Bluetooth tracking devices being used to stalk unsuspecting victims<\/a>. The latest victim came forward to share her experience exclusively with CBS12 News.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old woman asked not to be identified for safety reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a great relationship,\u201d she said. \u201cWe definitely loved each other.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she was in a loving, committed relationship with 46-year-old Jeremiah Sauter for more than a year, until late last month, when she found a Bluetooth tracking device, similar to an Apple AirTag, hidden under the hood of her SUV.<\/p>\n \u201cMy trust and my safety has definitely been broken,\u201d she said. \u201cI got a notification on my phone that a tracking device had been following me. My heart dropped and I was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n She immediately called the police, and a report was filed on Sept. 18. At the time, she didn\u2019t suspect Sauter.<\/p>\n Later that day, however, her suspicions grew. She said she realized it was her boyfriend who had allegedly been tracking her every move.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a jealous person, always asking what I was doing or where I was going,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She confronted Sauter and said she found tracking data on his phone showing the last location she visited before discovering the device.<\/p>\n See also: Florida law cracks down on high-tech tracking devices used in crimes<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe tried to deny it and act like he had no idea what was on his cell phone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n According to the arrest affidavit, detectives searched Sauter\u2019s phone and home in Port St. Lucie on October 10 and arrested him. He was released on bond the next day.<\/p>\n CBS12\u2019s Antoinette DelBel knocked on Sauter\u2019s door for comment, but no one answered.<\/p>\n The woman said she\u2019s sharing her story to empower others and warn them about how easily everyday technology can be turned into a tool for control.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last person I would think is someone I\u2019m in love with, that I planned a future with \u2014 that would be the last person I would’ve thought of,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sauter is now facing felony charges for illegally installing a tracking device and using a two-way communications device. An update to state law that went into effect October 1 now makes these types of stalking crimes a felony.<\/p>\n Find more ways to stay up to date with your latest local news. Sign up for our newsletter<\/a> to get the day’s top headlines delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our YouTube channel<\/a> for the biggest stories and can’t miss video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Port St. Lucie woman is speaking out after discovering a hidden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[11109,11107,11112,3037,11110,171,173,172,11111,11108],"class_list":{"0":"post-18580","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-apple-airtag","9":"tag-bluetooth-tracking","10":"tag-domestic-abuse","11":"tag-felony-charges","12":"tag-jeremiah-sauter","13":"tag-port-st-lucie","14":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","15":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","16":"tag-privacy","17":"tag-stalking"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}