The Apple Store in Naperville, Ill.
In the latest Apple Crime Blotter, NASA iPad thefts were investigated, stolen credit cards were used at an Apple Store, and iPhones were stolen from a Philadelphia AT&T Store.
The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.
Three charged in Illinois Apple Store theft from 2023
Arrests have been made in one of the highest-profile Apple Store robberies of the last year. According to The Daily Herald, three people have been arrested for the November 2023 incident in which a stolen car crashed into the Main Place Apple Store in Naperville, Ill.
A man, a woman, and a minor were all charged with felony burglary, theft, and criminal damage to property for their alleged part in the theft, in which $34,000 worth of items were taken. They included 37 iPhones, three MacBooks, and one iPad. The trio is also suspected of other crimes in the Chicago area.
Suspect sought for using stolen credit cards at Long Island Apple Store
Police in Suffolk County, N.Y., are looking for a man who they believe stole a wallet from a Panera Bread location and tried to use stolen credit cards at a nearby Apple Store.
Patch reports the theft occurred in mid-March, and the Apple Store was in the Smith Haven Mall. The man is wanted for grand larceny.
NASA still investigating stolen iPads
Multiple iPads used for astronaut training were stolen in mid-2023 from NASA. According to a March report, the investigation is ongoing.
Fedscoop writes the July 2023 thefts were described in an internal ticket as “Houston SpaceX Unauthorized Access incident where 3 crew training ipads and 2 crew training IPads were stolen.”
NASA does have the “profound ability to locate, lock, and wipe devices,” one security expert told the outlet.
23 iPhones taken from Philadelphia AT&T Store
Two men stole 23 iPhones from an AT&T Store in Northeast Philadelphia on April 3, Fox 29 reported.
Per the report, the suspects took off in a white SUV, and no arrests have been made.
Man tracks stolen MacBook to flea market
An X user named Robert Graham had a post go viral in late March after he left his MacBook on a plane and followed its signal to a flea market in Atlanta:
I left my MacBook on the plane and it was stolen. I’ve tracked it down to a flea market on south Atlanta. But while I know it’s in the building I don’t know where pic.twitter.com/Kb6mGqMyb2
— Rob Graham (@ErrataRob) March 29, 2024
According to his thread, Graham made multiple trips to the flea market using different Bluetooth tools. Atlanta police even contacted him, although the Bluetooth signal went dead at one point, and he has yet to recover the MacBook as of this writing.
He speculated that the thieves “probably read the viral tweet and saw me coming and put it in a Faraday bag or something.”
Walmart employee accused of stealing 14 iPhones
An employee of Walmart in the St. Louis area has been accused of stealing 14 iPhones from the store while working the overnight shift.
Fox 2 Now reports store management notified police of the thefts. The employee then drove off and was chased by police. After he crashed his car, he briefly fled on foot with the stolen items before he was arrested.
Two charged for stealing Apple products from cars
A man and woman, both from New York, have been arrested in Delaware for a series of thefts in which Apple products were taken from cars.
According to WDEL, police say the pair would follow customers from the Christiana Mall Apple Store to their next stop, at which point they would break their car windows and take the items.
Both are charged with “several felony counts, along with non-felony criminal mischief,” the report said.
Find My iPhone tracks down a stolen car
A man in Florida has been charged with carjacking after a woman tracked her stolen car by using Find My iPhone. Per First Coast News, when the victim approached police, they traced the car to a Jacksonville resident.
The man eventually surrendered to police and is facing a felony charge of carjacking with a firearm or deadly weapon.
