An Apple Store in San Mateo’s Hillsdale Shopping Center was targeted by a trio of thieves Thursday night. They escaped from the San Mateo robbery with 40 Apple products.
The San Mateo robbery was reported at 9.01pm Thursday. Cops arrived within two minutes, but the thieves had already escaped. A high-speed pursuit then took place. However, the thieves got away.
Witnesses say that the suspects escaped in a white four-door car. Police spotted the vehicle traveling northbound on Highway 101 toward San Francisco. They gave chase, before handing over the pursuit to California Highway Patrol when the car reached Highway 80. Highway Patrol continued the chase, but lost sight of the car on the Bay Bridge.
No description of the thieves in the San Mateo robbery has been released by police. Anyone with information is asked to contact San Mateo police at 650-522-7700.
San Mateo robbery: The latest incident
Apple Store robberies continue to be an unfortunately regular occurrence. Last month, an Apple Store in the San Francisco Bay Area was targeted in a snatch-and-grab robbery, with 16 iPhones stolen. The same month, police arrested two people for a brazen robbery at a U.K. Apple Store.
Earlier in September, thieves stole more than $200,000 worth of iPhones from an Australian Apple Store in an early morning raid.
Apple has tried to institute approaches to cut down on robberies. It uses software which, at least theoretically, locks down devices if they’re stolen. In theory, this renders them unusable. But from the continued spate of Apple Store robberies, that doesn’t seem to be enough. It’s likely that stolen devices wind up getting sold for parts.
Short of changing Apple’s trademark store design, featuring glass frontage to its stores, with expensive items on show, it’s difficult to think of too much more that Apple could do. Unless it starts instituting armed guards at every store, that is.
Source: East Bay Times
