An arrest is made in the Morgan McSweeney stolen iPhone case, a guilty plea in the Beyonce stolen music case, and an AirTag helps recover a stolen Lamborghini, all in this week's Apple Crime Blotter.
The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.
Apple product thieves were caught after one activated stolen Apple Watches
On May 7, the Justice Department announced indictments of three people for their parts in the "brazen daytime robbery" in January. That robbery entailed the hijacking of a truck near a Long Island Apple Store, and the theft of $1.2 million of MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and accessories.
The New York Times offered some detail about how the suspects were caught.
Leads included fingerprints on paperwork, one of the accused thieves renting a storage unit in his own name, and another of them activating two stolen Apple Watches.
Arrest made related to theft of iPhone from ex-aide to British prime minister
There has been an arrest in the highest-profile recent iPhone theft in Britain.
In October of 2025, a government-issued iPhone was stolen from Morgan McSweeney, who at the time was chief of staff for British Prime Minister Kier Starmer.
The loss of the iPhone meant that McSweeney could not produce messages between himself and Lord Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the U.S., who was in hot water over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson was removed and later indicted, and McSweeney stepped down in February.
In late April, The BBC reported, a man was arrested for selling McSweeney's stolen iPhone. The man is not believed to be responsible for the original theft.
Also, the phone itself has not been recovered.
Man pleads guilty to stealing MacBooks, Beyonce's unreleased music
In the summer of 2025, a rental car belonging to a member of pop superstar Beyonce's entourage was broken into in Atlanta. This led to the theft of hard drives and computers, including a MacBook Air, which contained the singer's unreleased music.
An arrest was made in September, and just before a trial was set to begin, the man accused in the thefts pleaded guilty on May 12.
According to ABC 7, the 40-year-old defendant agreed to serve two years in prison followed by three more on probation. Before the plea was announced, prosecutors showed videos of the defendant approaching the vehicle and later driving it to an apartment complex.
The stolen items, per that report, included "two MacBook laptops, Apple headphones, luxury clothing and accessories," and hard drives that investigators say contained unreleased Beyonce material.
Teens arrested for thefts of iPhone cases
A lot of thieves around the world, including in the U.K., steal iPhones. Two teenagers in that country were arrested in that country for stealing iPhone cases.
Eastern Daily Press reports the two teens were arrested in Attleborough, where officers say they were carrying 42 iPhone cases, worth 2,500 pounds, or about $3,382.
The cases, the reports said, were stolen from Apple Stores in Norwich and Cambridge.
Federal indictment for man accused of hacking into victims' accounts on iCloud, other services
Federal prosecutors have announced the indictment of a Maryland man who they say accessed the private information of nearly 200 victims.
A 41-year-old employee of a Maryland medical system reportedly used "various cyber intrusion techniques" to access victims' accounts with "online services such as Google Photos, iCloud Photos, Gmail, and Microsoft 365, and social media accounts." The scheme, as announced by the Justice Department, lasted for eight years.
The man has been charged with two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer and one count of aggravated identity theft.
AirTag helps in recovery of stolen Lamborghini, after chase
Police used an AirTag to recover a stolen 2021 Lamborghini Urus, valued at $300,000, in New Jersey in late April.
According to CBS New York, surveillance video caught thieves stealing the car from a custom auto body shop called MoeModz. However, the car's owner had thought to place an AirTag inside the Lamborghini, which police were able to track.
This led to a chase that reached the Garden State Parkway, which ended when the car's occupants got out and fled on foot. One of them, a 21-year-old, was charged with receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.
The Lamborghini suffered $15,000 in damage.
Couple follows AirPods to scrapyard to find stolen car
Another case of an owner using Apple technology to find a stolen car occurred in Milwaukee in early May.
TMJ 4 reported that a couple from that city had left their car on a street following a tire blowout. When they came back with a spare, the car was gone.
After calls to various towyards proved fruitless, the owner checked Find My iPhone and realized his AirPods had been left in the car.
Unfortunately, once they followed the signal, the car was in a scrapyard, "already crushed." The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating the theft.
AirPods tracked after vehicle burglaries
In another case of AirPods being tracked to find stolen merchandise, two men were arrested after a series of car burglaries in Quad Cities, Iowa.
According to KWQC, there were more than 15 car break-ins between early March and early May, and after one, in which a credit card and AirPods were taken, police tracked the AirPods to an apartment building. There, they found the AirPods and other stolen items, leading to the arrests.
Two charged with series of Facebook Marketplace thefts
Two Miami men, aged 20 and 22, have been arrested and charged with a series of Facebook Marketplace thefts in which they're accused of stealing iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.
WSVN reports police say the two men arranged meetings to buy the products on Marketplace, and at the meetups, they would steal the items without paying.
One of the two faces charges of robbery by sudden snatching, strong-arm robbery, burglary of an occupied conveyance, and grand theft.
TV host in the Philippines gets stolen iPad back
Teddy Corpuz, a well-known TV host in the Phillippines, had his iPad stolen, among other items, in a break-in May. However, per GMA News Online, Corpuz announced on Facebook that he has recovered the iPad.
Among other stolen items were "cash, jewelry, [and] a charger."
