Two people have been arrested for a brazen robbery at a U.K. Apple Store, which left customers shaken.
The robbery took place in the morning of July 4. A gang of six people entered the Liverpool store and began pulling iPhones and other devices off the display tables. They pushed customers out of the way during the rampage, and made off with 36 iPhones and a MacBook.
“It all happened so quickly,” said one witness. “They came in and barged people out the way and they were shouting in a different language at each other. They snatched the phones off the wires on the counters. Children were crying … They’d obviously planned it all before they came in. Staff couldn’t do anything to stop them because there was so many of them.”
Two suspects have been arrested. One of these is a 16-year-old boy, while the other is a 23-year-old. They have been released on bail, pending further enquiries.
Apple Store robberies
Apple Stores are an unfortunately regular target of thieves. Earlier this month, an Apple Store in the Bay Area was targeted in a snatch-and-grab robbery in which 16 iPhones were stolen. In June, thieves robbed the Apple Store in Valencia, California, at gunpoint.
The most significant Apple Store robberies took place in California in 2018. These resulted in the theft of more than $1 million worth of devices. Police ultimately arrested a gang of 17 people.
Apple has taken preventative steps to try and avoid thefts. It uses special versions of its software for all demo devices which render them useless if stolen from a store. However, this seemingly hasn’t done enough to crack down on robberies. Time for Apple to start employing other measures perhaps?
Source: Liverpool Echo
