Mugger Turns Down iPod

Nicole Martinelli ()

Mugger Turns Down iPod

Take my iPod, please? CC-licensed, thanks to Sifter on Flickr.

This is the man-bites-dog of gadget crime: a mugger stuck a gun in the face of a 15-year-old demanding cash but just said no when offered an iPod instead.

It happened in Sydney, Australia, where police believe the attacker was another teen.

“[The boy] offered him an iPod but the attacker didn’t want that,” Green Valley Local Area Command duty officer, Inspector Siobhan Busetto told the Sydney Morning Herald. The attacker ran away, leaving the teen unharmed and still in possession of his mp3 player. Reports didn’t specify the iPod model involved in the scuffle.

For years, iPods have been at the center of countless robberies — and a few murder cases –  attesting to their cult status and steal-a-bility.

Is this a fluke or a sign that market penetration has been reached?

Perhaps the mugger was waiting for the iPad?

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All gratuitous speculation welcome in the comments.

8 comments »

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

If you're doing something new/cool that's Apple related, email her about it.

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Posted in Cult of Mac, iPod, iPod Touch, News | Tagged: |

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougrmatheson/ Doug R. Matheson

    I think the most likely reason is the mugger did not even know what it was. Crooks are usually not very bright. We have all heard examples of phenomenally stupid acts carried out by the common criminal so I don’t think it’s a stretch.

  • http://www.zoomata.com Nicole Martinelli

    Hmm. Maybe — though I suspect iPods are popular targets is partly because that you can tell at a glance what it is and what it costs. Not easy to do with other MP3 players or cell phones…

  • Sam

    I’ve been mugged twice in Sydney (terrible city) in the last two years, both times they stole my iPod, leaving my mobile. Supposedly mobiles are of little use to them as most pawn shops check the IMEI to see if it is stolen or not.

  • http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald

    I dont think it’s anything to do with the robber not knowing what the iPod was.

    My guess would be that the iPod was either an old model, or in really bad condition, which would make it either un-sellable or too badly scuffed to carry around and show your mates.

  • http://flavors.me/jncarlos Juan Carlos

    I’m sure he knew what it was, I can imagine there’s not much you can get for an ipod on the streets, wasting time trying to sell that for a few bucks and risking getting caught is just plain dumb. Specially if he actually got cash from the guy. Anyway, I’d say he did right by turning it down, he did so wrong for mugging people, so wrong.

  • http://tomdahm.com tom

    or, mabye he just wanted actual money.

  • TRRosen

    Maybe muggers have finally learned about “find my ipod”.

  • Nonny Moose

    I call BS on this story. Everybody knows guns are illegal in Australia, that’s why there is no crime there.