A gang of thieves robbed London’s Regent Street Apple Store in a brazen overnight raid. After threatening a security guard with a hammer, the group of 10 robbers took off on mopeds with an assortment of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.
The Metropolitan Police were called at 12:45 a.m. Monday, just minutes after the thieves broke into the U.K.’s flagship Apple store. Two iPhone X handsets were recovered at the nearby King’s Cross subway station, but the criminals got away.
Despite the raid, the store was open as usual today. There were no signs of visible damage in the store. Apple has so far declined to comment on the incident, which comes at a time when crimes involving moped and scooter thieves in London are on the rise.
Due to the high resale value of their stock, Apple Stores have been targeted frequently by thieves over the years. Back in 2011, a gang of 14 thieves on mopeds raided Apple’s Covent Garden, London, store in the early hours of the morning and made off with a handful of valuable Macs and iOS devices.
It’s not just a U.K. phenomenon, either. Late last year, the Apple store in Palo Alto, California, was subject to an attack by a group of thieves who rented an SUV and “ram-raided” the store. They smashed the 40-foot glass window at the entrance to gain access, then stole iPhones, Macs and other devices before fleeing.
We’ll update this story if additional details come out about the Regent Street robbery. In the meantime, if you have any knowledge about the crime, make sure to contact the Metropolitan Police.
Source: BBC
