One man in Malaysia was in for a rude shock when his car disappeared after he visited a mall in Kuala Lumpur.

In a Facebook post on Jul. 8, user Zach Khai Shin recounted the alleged theft incident after he had used Suria KLCC's valet parking service on Jul. 7.

He then used an Apple AirTag device which had been paired with the stolen vehicle to eventually locate it.

Local police has since arrested a 58-year-old male suspect, reported Malaysian English-language newspaper Bernama.

Parked car using mall valet service

In his post, Shin explained he wanted to use the service on Jul. 7, as he thought the mall would be crowded and he did not want to spend time looking for a parking space himself.

He passed the car keys to the valet staff at 12:48pm.

According to Shin, he used the mall's valet service prior to the incident, and did not encounter any issues.

"Based on my trust in Suria KLCC, I really didn't think that my car would be lost," he wrote.

Car had disappeared when he returned

Shin returned to pick up the car at around 1:20pm.

According to him, the valet staff took around 10 to 15 minutes to retrieve it but later told him that it had disappeared.

Shin had the staff inform their manager while he made a police report.

Officers arrived at the scene and started interrogating the valet attendants.

When asked for their identification documents, the valet staff could not provide any.

Shin later followed the officers to a police station to lodge a formal report and also called his friend to help him locate the car.

Tracked car using Apple AirTag

Using an Apple AirTag tracking device paired with the car, Shin's friend followed the location indicated in the Find My tracking app.

According to Shin, it led his friend directly to the suspect's parking spot at around 2pm.

The security guard at the location pointed the suspect out to Shin's friend, and highlighted that he was being uncooperative before entering the location.

Shin's friend quickly called the police.

According to Bernama, the car was found at Subang Jaya in Selangor at around 2:35pm.

Dang Wangi police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya said that the suspect had tried to escape but was arrested shortly.

The car had been taken to the police station for further investigation.

"Fortunately, the car had an Apple AirTag, which allowed us to find it in such a short time."

Shin also thanked the police for their prompt assistance, and highlighted that the mall has not contacted him about the incident, at the time of writing.

Suria KLCC's statement

In a Facebook statement on Jul. 8, Suria KLCC said the vehicle was supposedly stolen despite being "securely parked" by its valet staff.

"Upon notification, we immediately launched a comprehensive investigation in cooperation with the authorities," it said.

Suria KLCC said it had worked with the police to identify the man from mall CCTV footage and Shin's car GPS system.

He had allegedly driven the car away without its keys, which still remained at the valet counter.

"This is an unprecedented event for our valet parking service operator, as nothing of this nature has ever happened before. We are committed to reviewing and further strengthening the enforcement of our valet parking operator's standard operating procedures to prevent any future incidents."