Crime blotter: NYPD officer acquitted for 2021 punch in Apple Store

In this week's look at the Apple crime blotter, Canadian Police are looking into iPhone thefts, fraud has been alleged in third-party Apple Store pick-ups, an iPhone was stolen in a viral video, and more!

A New York City police officer has been acquitted of charges related to a 2021 incident in which he punched a man in a Manhattan Apple Store.

According to The New York Daily News, a judge has found Officer Salvatore Provenzano not guilty on third-degree assault charges in a bench trial. In October of 2021, the on-duty officer punched a man who was being escorted out of the Apple Store on West 67th Street for "disturbing customers."

The officer was suspended without pay and is currently on modified duty.

RCMP looking for the trio that stole 60 iPhones

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are looking for three people who they claim stole 60 iPhones from a Manitoba business in March.

According to CBC, the phones were stolen from an unnamed business in that province. A woman distracted employees at the company while her two male accomplices broke into a locked case and took the phones.

The crime is "believed to be connected to a string of similar thefts across the Prairies," the agency told CBC.

Fraudsters have abused Apple Store third-party pickups, researcher claims

A criminal phishing operation in South Korea has "abused" Apple's policy of allowing third parties to pick up Apple Store purchases, a researcher claimed at a conference in mid-April.

According to The Register, researcher Gyuyeon Kim of the Financial Security Institute of South Korea claimed at the Black Hat Asia conference on April 18 that she and a fellow researcher "stumbled upon a site that victims of phishing would see when they fell for a fake link. That site offered a facility to pay for goods, giving the phisherfolk a means of stealing credit card details."

That fake payment page, Kim said, featured "8,000 stolen credit cards and over five million stolen pieces of personal information."

Police not wrong to force suspect to unlock his phone, appeals court rules

In litigation resulting from a 2021 case in which the California Highway Patrol pulled over a man, and officers forced his thumb onto his phone to unlock it, an appeals court has ruled that such actions by law enforcement are permissible.

According to a report by Reason, that search resulted in the discovery of video evidence of pills as well as the man's address. When police searched that address, they found hundreds of pills, leading to the man's indictment and guilty plea, and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

He had appealed, arguing that the search of his phone was not legal.

On April 17, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the search was proper, in part because of the man's status as a parolee.

"We hold that the compelled use of Payne's thumb to unlock his phone (which he had already identified for the officers) required no cognitive exertion, placing it firmly in the same category as a blood draw or fingerprint taken at booking," he wrote. "The act itself merely provided CHP with access to a source of potential information."

The decision does not say whether or not Payne's phone was an iPhone.

iPhone stolen from AT&T store in viral video

In a video that had nearly 3 million views on X in its first ten days, a bystander was shown stealing two of a woman's iPhones at a Houston-area AT&T retail location and running out of the store.

A store employee is seen giving chase before quickly giving up. In subsequent messages, the woman from the video says she was buying a pair of iPhones, and the thief took both and $100. She also says the theft occurred in Bellaire, a suburb of Houston.

Scottish officer accused of iPad theft from dead man sentenced to supervision

A police officer in Scotland who admitted to stealing an iPad and other items from a man who had recently died has been spared jail time.

According to The Daily Record, the officer admitted that he stole an iPad, a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and another handset from a 58-year-old father shortly after the man's death. After admitting to the thefts, the officer was sentenced to a "Community Payback Order," which entails 18 months of supervision and 140 hours of unpaid work.

Two arrested so far in Manchester iPhone thefts

Detectives in the City of Manchester in the U.K. are investigating a series of thefts of iPhones from the City Centre district, carried out by people on electric bikes.

According to the Greater Manchester Police, a 37-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and handling stolen goods, and iPhone models have been recovered.

Two convicted in 2021 murder over AirPods

A man and a woman were convicted on April 14 of the murder of an Australian teenager, reportedly in retaliation for the theft of AirPods.

According to The Daily Mail, Kayla Dawson and Richard Sione were convicted in the killing of 16-year-old Jason Galleghan in August of 2021. Dawson believed Galleghan took her AirPods and lured him into an ambush, some of which was recorded and shared.

Sentencing is set for July 8.

Man arrested for stealing iPhone from Dollar General

A 62-year-old Alabama man was arrested for the theft of an iPhone 15 Pro Max from someone else at a Dollar General. According to Coosa Valley News, the phone was "misplaced by an employee," but the man did not attempt to return it to the owner.

The man was charged with theft of mislaid property.

Illinois man arrested for stealing iPhone from Uber driver

Police in Rockford, Ill., have arrested a man for allegedly stealing an Uber driver's iPhone.

According to WTVO, the man argued with the driver over whether or not to stop at a gas station. When the driver declared that she was ending the ride, he grabbed the woman's iPhone 15 Pro Max and threatened her.

After the entire incident was caught on video, the man was charged with theft with unauthorized control and robbery.