Thieves steal Apple laptops, personal info

Yet another Apple Store has been burglarized, this time at University Village in Seattle, Washington. The thieves apparently entered the store through the ceiling in an area sectioned off for technicians, making off with all the laptops that had workers had completed servicing. A store employee told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that at least one of the notebooks contained personal information, and that the theft could pose a risk to other customers. Additionally, an "unknown stock" of refurbished iPhones are missing alongside a high-end laptop used by the store's technical staff. A store employee reportedly showed police a cut cable lock that was attached to the technician's laptop, and police reported that the entire office appeared in disarray. Seattle police were called to the University Village store at 4:44 a.m. Monday morning after an alarm signaled rear entry or motion, but the police report stated that all the doors were secure and nothing appeared to be out of place on the inside.

The burglary follows another theft at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri where suspects stole $17,000 worth of goods by smashing out the front window of the store. The thieves reportedly made off with eight laptops, three iPods, and two iPhones and struck the store at around 3:38 a.m. on August 13th.

While the two burglaries are likely unrelated, they reveal high demand for the Cupertino-based company's products by unscrupulous or unknowing buyers. Apple products are sought after enough that thieves are risking charges of grand theft and burglary just to acquire the goods.

In late January the Twenty Ninth Street Apple Store in Colorado modified one of its display cases by securing the 30-pound container to the table upon which it rested. The changes were made after thieves boldly stole a 2 x 2 x 6-foot display case containing 42 4GB iPod nanos worth around $8,450. Amazingly, store employees said they noticed the case missing at around 5:00 p.m. which suggests that the theft may have occurred in broad daylight.

A man who burglarized an Apple Store in Weymouth, Massachusetts in December of 2006 was stopped by a police officer for having a brown plastic bag over his license plate. The man, who was bleeding profusely from wounds he suffered while entering and exiting the Apple Store after smashing out the front glass window with a pipe wrench, may have bled to death if he was not stopped by local law enforcement. The thief reportedly cut his arms on the broken glass of the front window while entering and exiting the store as he carried 56 stolen iPods worth almost $20,000 in a pink plastic tub.

The man was treated at a local hospital and jailed. Just one week prior, the Carrefour Lavel store in Canada was burglarized by thieves who managed to take numerous computers as well as several iPods.

Filed under: Apple