Stephen Silver
After a summer of Apple Store robberies throughout California and elsewhere, three suspects were caught in the act Sunday, and detained by customers near the Apple Store in Thousand Oaks.
Three men entered an Apple Store in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sunday and took several items. But this robbery ended differently from all of the other similar ones this summer. After fleeing the store, two of the robbers were tackled by customers, leading to their arrest, police said. A third suspect, along with alleged accomplices, was arrested seperately.
"Once inside, the three suspects proceeded to steal several Apple iPhones and Apple laptop computers totaling approximately $18,000.00," the Ventura County Sheriff's Department's report said. "All three suspects ran out of the store, and in doing so, ran into a juvenile female customer causing her to fall to the ground. Other customers in the area tackled two of the suspects and detained them until Thousand Oaks Police Department Deputies arrived on scene."
The third suspect fled, but his car was later pulled over by police, who arrested that suspect and two others who were in the getaway car. In all, five people were arrested. The alleged conspirators have been charged with burglary as well as conspiracy to commit burglary.
The TV station KCAL reported that another Apple Store robbery took place earlier that day in Northridge, and police believe the suspects may be tied to the other robberies that have taken place in the state this summer. Four of the suspects are from Northern California while the fifth is from Fresno.
These thefts have been taking place throughout the country since the spring, with many of them concentrated throughout California. In recent weeks, Apple Stores have been hit in Bakersfield and Roseville, with local police departments lately stepping up their efforts to catch the perpetrators.
The thefts are always similar — thieves run into the store, quickly grab multiple display items, and run back out, sometimes after just a few seconds. The speed of the robberies, as well as the unique layout of Apple Stores, has made catching the suspects elusive, even though several of the crimes have been caught on surveillance video.
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24 Comments
Maybe Apple should develop a small but very loud piezo-electric siren tag that can be affixed to store model units, with geofencing capability. You run out of the store with a few iPhones and they begin loudly screeching, for about 6 hours. Affixed such that the iPhones/iPads/Macs they are affixed to would be damaged in any attempt to remove them. Apple could then also market such tags to other high-end goods retailers.
How about installing and activating find my iPhone on all display models- not sure if this works without a cellular data plan.. perhaps gps. Restrictions set so phones cannot be shut down, wifi cannot be disabled, airplane mode not activated
I can understand risking your life to defend someone else's life, but stolen property that will most likely be refunded by insurance? Not worth it. Please don't put yourself in danger for material things.