Filed under: Retail
Thieves steal $10,000 of gear from an Apple Store
Thieves broke into an Apple Store in Palo Alto, California, and within two minutes had nabbed $10,000 worth of gear, including six laptops (gotta be MacBook Pros, right?) and two iPhones. And apparently they trucked right over to Los Gatos, and did the same thing about an hour later. There's no dollar figure from the second robbery, but more laptops and iPhones were stolen.It's actually surprising this kind of thing doesn't happen more often, though I'm also surprised the thieves were able to duck in and out of the store in two minutes -- I've been to many Apple Stores, and I don't think I could carry out $10,000 worth of stuff and be gone in just two minutes.
But I guess as long as there's something expensive around, someone will try to steal it. Cops have a car description on these guys, and having gotten away with two robberies already, it's probably a good guess they'll try again. Only a matter of time before they're caught.
[via Techmeme]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Charles R Hamilton said 3:13PM on 12-31-2008
Won't the stolen iPhones show up on AT&T's radar screen if they are activated? Meaning, don't buy a cheap iPhone from shady looking people in California.
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Fred said 3:13PM on 12-31-2008
THIS JUST IN: Something happened and there was an Apple there. No not the computer, but a very nice Granny Smith. Film at 11.
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MRCUR said 9:46PM on 12-31-2008
I generally agree with your comments regarding the fact that TUAW hasn't been doing so well recently, but this comment is just stupid.
I actually read this post and said to myself this is the type of stuff I want to see on TUAW, and wouldn't expect to see on Engadget. Overall I'm still not that impressed with TUAW (unlike the Windows 7 Beta), but this is a good post, unlike your comment...
Taylor said 10:10PM on 12-31-2008
You don't seem to understand the idea that TUAW can report on whatever they want if they think it will interest their readers, but YOU can just ignore it.
Fred said 8:53AM on 1-01-2009
Good Lord, don't get your knickers all in a twist, I'll grant that it wasn't that funny, but it is somewhat valid. And yes, I could ignore it. Which is what I will do going forward. Won't see ya 'round!
jimmy said 7:17PM on 1-01-2009
Fred, are you saying that it isn't valid to put a news story, no matter how minor, that involves Apple up? I understand that some sites (engadget, cnet, etc...) sometimes get blamed for too much Apple news, and not enough other stuff, but aren't you reading TUAW? If you'll remember, the "A" stands for "Apple".
If I were an Apple junkie, I'd want to know that a couple of california stores lost thousands in merchandise. It indirectly warns me not to buy "used, slightly damaged Kensington slot" MacBooks off of craigslist, for one.
Thanks for the Apple news, Apple Weblog. I, for one appreciate it. If I don't like a story, I just stop reading and move on to the next post. I wish more people would do the same...
Fred said 8:15PM on 1-01-2009
Well, you should already know better than to buy ""used, slightly damaged Kensington slot" MacBook. But I would imagine they took it from the store room. It's their site, they can report what they like, but by your logic they should be reporting every iPod stolen from a car too.
JoshK said 3:19PM on 12-31-2008
"within two minutes had nabbed $10,000 worth of gear, including six laptops (gotta be MacBook Pros, right?) "
No, the MacBook Pros start around $2,000 so if you steal six you'd have more than $12,000 worth of gear stolen.
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LD said 3:39PM on 12-31-2008
It would be easy as hell to carry off $10k worth of Apple products in 30 seconds. Grab 5 laptops, leave. No problem.
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Gautam said 3:47PM on 12-31-2008
grab a couple mba's and a mac pro easier and lighter lol
MRCUR said 9:48PM on 12-31-2008
Especially given that Apple has those express areas setup right now for the holidays. There are brand new laptops and iPods just sitting right behind the counter, and lots of them. It'd be very easy to run in and grab a lot of stuff without having to do a lot of work.
ras said 3:55PM on 12-31-2008
i hope they defecated on the Genius (Penis) Bar!!!!
nothing is worse than those self-righteous, glorified geeks!!! at least the geek squad is honest about what they do, the Genius Bar couldn't be farther from the truth - it should be called the Penis Bar!
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robogobo said 8:57PM on 12-31-2008
um....
Larry Iverson said 3:50PM on 12-31-2008
These guys better sell this stuff to the right people. I'm pretty sure serial #'s are imprinted and digitally branded to the mother boards. They are never going to be able to have the peace of mind of any kind of Apple support. And I would be scared to bring this stolen stuff to any repair shop that specializes in Macs.
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Izzy said 8:55AM on 1-01-2009
Craigslist and a disposable phone for contacting.
itsmeee said 3:55PM on 12-31-2008
Yeah, probably not macbook pro's. I had my house broken into recently and they made off with nearly $6,000 worth of mostly apple stuff :'(
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itsmeee said 3:57PM on 12-31-2008
btw: thats two maxed out MacBook Pro's, iphone (which sells for $500-700 online)
P.S. Comment system here sucks ass. I want to make an account and not have to login constantly. I'd also like to edit posts. Make it happen guys!
samuel said 4:04PM on 12-31-2008
That's why Apple needs to include a tracker for its portable devices; they could start with the iPhone as it has GPS.
A wake-up call.
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Taylor said 12:06AM on 1-01-2009
A friend of mine had their iPhone stolen a few weeks back and they were told when the police found it that they used its internal GPS to find its location.
Not sure how true that is, but it could be.
Erik said 4:34PM on 12-31-2008
$10,000? they probably stole one thing
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