Andrew Orr
A man carrying his purchase of 300 iPhones was robbed and assaulted near the Apple Store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, losing $95,000 worth of merchandise.
According to the New York Police Department, the attack occurred early Monday morning. The 27-year-old victim was targeted shortly after leaving the Apple Store with his goods.
Around 1:45 AM, a store employee put the 300 iPhone 13 boxes into three large bags, that were handed over to the man. Shortly after returning to his car, another vehicle pulled up and two men demanded the bags.
The victim fought back, but was punched in the face. The attackers managed to steal one of the iPhone-filled bags before driving away.
The bag contained 125 iPhones worth approximately $95,000, according to police. As to why he had so many iPhones in his possession, the victim regularly makes large purchases from Apple to resell through his small business, and that was part of his order.
The man wasn't gravely injured and refused medical attention at the scene.
Apple's store on Fifth Avenue is open 24 hours a day and can facilitate purchases at odd hours. It is likely that the early-morning activity was to avoid shifting such a high value of order in view of the general public, which would make the man more of a target for theft.
The investigation is ongoing, and the NYPD has yet to release a description of the suspects or their vehicle, according to Audacy on Tuesday.
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15 Comments
Strange. Apple stores don't normally sell to resellers. Usually resellers have to go through Apple's business channel to make large purchases.
Hey, I've got an idea: I'm going to go to the main NYC Apple Store at around 2AM, buy a QUARTER-MILLION DOLLARS worth of iPhones, then walk to my car with them in three large Apple shopping bags! What could go wrong?
Sorry, but this story doesn't pass the smell test. I live in Manhattan, not very far from this store, and no one who regularly makes purchases this large from NYC Apple locations would handle purchases this way. It's just dumb. Heck, I wouldn't be walking to my car with AirPods in an Apple bag at 2AM.
As for "lawless" NYC: that gets repeated so often in right-leaning media, you might even think it's true. It's not. Crime is up, no doubt--but it's up from historic lows, pre-Covid. If you look at NYC crime data going back many decades, we're still at the lower end of the data, historically--not remotely close to how it's portrayed. That said, the upward trend in some crime categories should be addressed now, before it gets worse.
Recently NYU officials are accused of giving themselves raises while reducing budget for security forces.