Thieves Rob Apple Store in Massachusetts and Get Away With $13,000 Worth of iPhones

Friday October 21, 2016 5:04 AM PDT by Mitchel Broussard
A group of seven individuals robbed an Apple retail store in Natick, Massachusetts on Tuesday, managing to get away with a total of 19 iPhones worth more than $13,000 (via AppleInsider). The "organized pack of thieves" is believed to be comprised of young teenagers and potentially connected to a similar crime in the nearby town of Hingham.

In a video posted on the Natick Police Department's Facebook page, the group of seven is seen walking into the mall where Apple is located, and eventually gathering around one of the iPhone display tables. In "less than a minute," the group had organized and grabbed 19 iPhones from the table and made a beeline out of the store and from the mall, without authorities being able to stop them.

apple_store_graphics_june14
The Natick Apple location still carried security tethers on the iPhones -- a feature Apple is beginning to eliminate -- and the group "grabbed iPhones from the chargers and tore them away from the security cord that secured them."
On Tuesday, the group of seven walked into the Apple Store at the same time. Less than a minute later, they all grabbed iPhones from the chargers and tore them away from the security cord that secured them. “We’ve been hearing about this,” said police spokesman Lt. Cara Rossi. “They’re traveling in packs. They brazenly walk in together and steal.”
None of the suspects have yet to be identified following the robbery. Recently, a collection of Apple retail locations in New York City were targeted by criminals who dressed up as Apple employees to gain access to the store's devices. One individual managed to steal $16,130 from Apple SoHo in June, and a similar string of thefts in the Upper West Side in March added up to $50,000 in stolen iPhones.

Tag: Apple retail
128 comments


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keysofanxiety
38 months ago

And 5 minutes later every one of those iPhones became worthless for anything but parts, and are probably tracking the thieves.


Yep. What's their next target? Stealing a bunch of ankle monitors from their local police station?
Rating: 36 Votes
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keysofanxiety
38 months ago
Bunch of idiots. The phones will be immediately blocked. Plus don't the in-store phones run a slightly different version of iOS, which is for demo purposes only?

Anyway, hopefully they'll get caught pretty shortly.
Rating: 32 Votes
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daemondust
38 months ago
And 5 minutes later every one of those iPhones became worthless for anything but parts, and are probably tracking the thieves.
Rating: 26 Votes
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jamietomo78
38 months ago
And then Apple deactivated them remotely thus leaving the thieves with a handful of paper weights.
Rating: 23 Votes
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sunapple
38 months ago
They're better off stealing Watch bands; not traceable and you can carry lots with you in a bag or something. And let's be real, everyone loves Watch bands.
Rating: 16 Votes
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69Mustang
38 months ago

And not one person attempted to stop them? What the hell is this world coming too? Amazing, even though the devices are worthless too them after leaving the store.

Why would someone try to stop them? You don't risk yourself and other people to save some phones that don't belong to you. Heck, retail employees are typically told to not stop things like this to avoid possible injury. It's a gadget. There are more of them. Not worth someone getting hurt over.
[doublepost=1477052866][/doublepost]


If these kids were smarter...

There's your answer right there.
Rating: 15 Votes
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ZCT
38 months ago
That's a seriously stupid crime.

In Massachusetts, the retail value of those phones could easily constitute Grand Theft and/or Larceny. The latter of which can receive a prison sentence of over 10 years.

And the street value of those stolen display phones is pennies on the dollar; they'll be lucky to split a few hundred dollars between them.

If you're going to risk a decade in prison, might want to up the stakes a bit?
Rating: 13 Votes
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yg17
38 months ago

And not one person attempted to stop them? What the hell is this world coming too? Amazing, even though the devices are worthless too them after leaving the store.



I wouldn't attempt to stop them. Apple doesn't pay me to be their security guard, plus they might be armed. If I witnessed it, I would let them walk right out the door with them.
Rating: 11 Votes
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maflynn
38 months ago

Bunch of idiots. The phones will be immediately blocked. Plus don't the in-store phones run a slightly different version of iOS, which is for demo purposes only?

Anyway, hopefully they'll get caught pretty shortly.

They'll get away with it, because they'll sell them on craiglist as NIB, the buyers are the ones that lose out
Rating: 10 Votes
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ftaok
38 months ago
I wonder if this particular store has security guards. The big one in Delaware (Christiana Mall) has Delaware State Troopers guarding the place. You don't want to mess with those guys.

Anecdote - I remember one Holiday season where I noticed that the Apple Store had two huge DE State Troopers guarding the place (guns and everything). The jewelry store directly across from the Apple Store had a single guard (looked like a skinny high school student) with a can of pepper spray. I thought that was kinda funny.
Rating: 8 Votes
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