Episode 51: Masked Bandits Steal $35K Of Merchandise From Apple Store (2022)

11:24AM Jun 2, 2023

Speakers:

Jason Connell

Media

Keywords:

crime

apple store

suspects

apple

customers

employees

masked

video

apple stores

podcast

merchandise

steal

ipads

products

black friday

bandits

store

hear

apprehended

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Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious media. This is that's a crime. And I'm Jason Connell. And yes, I am without Salvador Rodriguez, scheduling sometimes can be tricky. And the show must go on because crimes unfortunately, they keep happening. And today, this is the first time I've recorded that's a crime in my new studio, I should say, my recording booth within my studio. So it's a little more streamlined as you can tell, but I have the that's a crime logo here over my shoulder. And I'm even going to do some interactive stuff today and play a video which coincides with this crime. Now, this crime came to me because I have been outfitting my new studio with more gear, and it led me to this crime. And I'll explain, because today, we're breaking down the True Crime Story of the masked bandits steal $35,000 of merchandise, from Apple Store in 2022. So I have purchased new stuff, new computers, new iPads, as I can outfit things as I see fit. And here comes this crime that happened last year. And I remember seeing the video, but I wanted to delve in and talk about it here a little bit on the lighter side. And shorter side. It's the first time we've done a solo crime, but you know, we need content. And here I am. So on November 25 2022, which happens to be Black Friday, a pair of masked bandits entered an Apple store in Palo Alto, California, in broad daylight and began looting. Immediately. When I show you the video, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. And perhaps you've already seen the video, but it's like mind boggling. Now, the suspects primarily focused on the products on display near the front of the store. And they were essentially like ripping iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, from the security cables on the tables, and stuffing them into their backpacks. Now, I know most of you have been in an Apple store or seen them and they have all those tables near the front where customers come in and pick things up. Self included. And they're on these little strings. I guess you could rip it off. But most people would, wouldn't ever Fathom of such a thing. But these guys came in like they've done this before. It was like they're going around yanking they're masked up, you can't really tell who they are. No one else is masked up. So this wasn't like a COVID crime. So keep this in mind. It was Black Friday. So Apple stores are notoriously busy anyway, but even more so on this particular day. And while this is happening, customers and staff are also perplexed. And in the viral video, you can hear one customer asking yo Should we stop them, but you can't like that. But you can also hear Apple employees telling customers, you got to get back man and let them go. So the plan is to let these bandits do what they do best. Take whatever they want. They're not hurting anybody. So they don't want that to happen. No one wants to be liable. So therefore, the Apple employees are deterring anyone from confronting the thieves and I am happy to say that no one was injured in the incident. Now I'm going to play the video and then we'll talk more

yo know should we stop them next? Ellmers motto

pretty crazy, huh? Yeah, I was shocked to see that and they put the logo back up. Anyway, insane. Employees are warning people to back away, don't get engaged. They didn't have some sort of, you know, some good samaritan that crossed the line and wanting to take the law into his own hands are an employee, hey, it's just a device. It's just something not to get injured over and like I said, these guys came in with a plan. And according to Palo Alto Police Captain James rife Snyder. He claimed that employees at the store during the heist heard one of the suspects threatened customers with physical violence if anyone made a move to try to stop them. He also noted that the threat of violence elevated the crime from a burglary to a robbery. Interesting, just the threat of violence. Now, we didn't hear that. But again, that's what he was told and asked for the suspects who did indeed get away. They are described as black males in their late teens or early 20s. Now, this is not an isolated incident, as there have been a series of similar robberies at Apple stores across California, and even in particular, the Bay Area. Now, in recent months, the authorities have apprehended several suspects and recovered over $1 million in Apple products. It was unclear however, if these suspects from this crime or among the ones captured, I'm not sure there was no data on that. But this video I just saw was in the last month on this big capture. Now, I also read that the products that Apple has on display may be running a limited version of the software, since they're just there for customers to test out. And let's not forget being an apple person as I am, how protective they are. And oh, and they would know the serial numbers of these devices and could deactivate them or even track them. So I'm not sure how smart this is, unless you sell them off very quickly. And then who's buying these? I don't know. But obviously, there's a market here. And I don't know if these guys have done it before, but they came in like they knew no one's gonna stand in their way. Right? There's no security guard in front of the Apple store. I mean, maybe it's going to change now. But maybe not. I mean, Apple, they don't seem to be bothered by it. What are a few products that aren't going to move the needle for them. They're doing much more business than this a lot of online business, like all my purchases recently, were just on the Apple Store online. But anyway, I was fascinated by this. And if I was in an Apple Store, and this took place, Hey, man, this isn't my fight. I would stand back as well. I have no need to get involved unless someone safety was in question. Someone I'm with or someone else that that's a whole other thing. Now, as for this particular Apple Store, which is located in Silicon Valley in 2018, it was robbed twice, within 24 hours when suspect stole more than $100,000 worth of products. And if that's not enough, in 2016, criminals drove a rented vehicle through the front door of the store in order to steal 1000s of dollars of merchandise. So if you're looking to get a job and work at Apple, perhaps think twice about doing it at this particular store, I'm just saying. So that's all I got. I'm sure Sal and I would a rift on this much more but a really, really fascinating crime. I don't know if if these two are going to be apprehended or have and they were in the mix of that or hopefully this trend slows down with some things, you know, maybe some stiff punishments are coming. Or maybe Apple security increases. I'm not trying to discourage you from going to an Apple Store, but keep your eyes open. So that covers the True Crime Story of the masked bandits steal $35,000 of merchandise from Apple Store in 2022. We will be back with more crimes. And until then, stay out of trouble. So thank you so much for listening. And please be sure to subscribe to the that's a crime podcast and the that's a crime YouTube Live Channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast. And for all your listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcast, send us a direct message or post a comment on any that's a crime social media platform. We also highly recommend checking out our other podcast and visiting just curious media.com