Man arrested for attaching Apple Watch to girlfriend’s car, police say

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) - Police in Tennessee have arrested a man after investigators said he attached an Apple Watch to his girlfriend’s car to track her whereabouts.

WSMV obtained a Metro Nashville Police Department arrest affidavit stating Lawrence Welch was charged with attaching an electronic tracking device to his girlfriend’s vehicle. He was arrested Friday.

The affidavit states officers arrived at the Family Safety Center in Nashville after they received a call from security that the boyfriend and the victim, who was trying to get an order of protection, had shown up at the facility that is designed to help victims of domestic and sexual violence, abuse and human trafficking.

The victim told police that the boyfriend had threatened to kill her multiple times and she had come to the Family Safety Center in the past. She said she and Welch used the Life360 app to keep tabs on each other’s whereabouts, but she had deactivated the app before coming to the Family Safety Center in prior visits and had been receiving texts from him demanding to know her whereabouts and telling her to call him.

Police said Welch eventually came to the Family Safety Center, and instead of coming inside, he approached the victim’s car and squatted down beside the front passenger-side tire. When officers inspected the vehicle, they found an Apple Watch, which Welch identified as his, attached to the tire’s spokes.

According to court records, Welch is also facing two domestic assault charges from events that happened in July 2021 that led to an arrest in December 2021.

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