A robbery at an Apple Store in Palo Alto over the weekend has continued a string of Apple Store-related burglaries plaguing the Bay Area over the past few weeks. In Palo Alto, the University Avenue Apple Store was targeted by between eight and ten individuals who drove a rented SUV directly into the store's floor-to-ceiling glass front, and made away with an unspecified amount of iPhones, iPads, "and other gadgets on display."

The SUV used to crash into the Apple Store was subsequently disabled due to the purposeful wreck, and the thieves had to escape on foot. Since the event, which occurred early Sunday morning, four suspects have been arrested.

apple-store-robbery

Image via The Mercury News

“This was a pretty brazen act,” said Palo Alto police Sgt. James Reifschneider said, “when somebody breaks their way into a business after hours and uses a vehicle to force their way into a store.”

Elsewhere in and around San Francisco, since October there have been three Apple Store thefts within San Francisco itself, three in Berkeley, three in Burlingame, one in Los Gatos, and one in Corte Madera. These eleven crimes are all believed to be linked, with similar descriptions of the perpetrators connecting each robbery: "a group of young men in their late teens or early 20s wearing hooded sweatshirts."

The hooded thieves were said to rush into each Apple Store and "in about 45 seconds" stole upwards of $20,000 worth of iPhones and iPads tethered to their display tables. The Apple Store on Chestnut Street in San Francisco was hit on Black Friday and again the following Tuesday, at nearly the same time the Apple Store on Stockton Street was robbed. The frequency and "brazenness" of each robbery has lead to increased security in front of most Apple Stores in each area.

"It just keeps happening," said Burlingame resident Angelina Bruno. "It's really strange to feel that unsafe in a town that used to feel so safe."

The Palo Alto theft is not connected with these other crimes, according to local police. Local news channel KTVU reached out to Apple for a comment, but Apple spokesperson Nick Leahy said "we don't comment on matters of security."

It should be mentioned that in any Apple Store robbery, all of the devices that make it out of the store's Wi-Fi range become useless thanks to Apple's built-in security measure that bricks each smartphone and tablet.

Top Rated Comments

Am3r1ca16 Avatar
105 months ago
I'll tell you what's a crime. Those Macbook Pro prices.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
105 months ago
I guess no one has told these robber that Apple is doomed. They should really focus on robbing Samsung and MS at this point...

/s
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WaxedJacket Avatar
105 months ago
So they stole a bunch of bricks. Maybe these thieves are taking up masonry.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
105 months ago
The criminals they showed on the local news(of the 4 that were arrested).. didn't seem that bright to steal apple products to sell them for parts.. I would not go into more details so i don't sound like a racist...
Then why add the bolded part.
Leave it out all together is a smarter way to comment.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MNJohn Avatar
105 months ago
My guess is MacRumors has gotten got it backwards: The suspects are actually 2016 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Pad owners rushing in to request a return and running out with their money.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nunyabinez Avatar
105 months ago
Then why add the bolded part.
Leave it out all together is a smarter way to comment.
Maybe he's still recovering from 8 years of liberal oppression where simply stating a fact got you labeled as a racist or a bigot. Give people some time to get over their fear of being _____shamed for telling the truth.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18

Apple Releases First Betas of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3

Monday December 16, 2024 10:06 am PST by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2. iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software update. There's no word yet on what's included in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, ...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

Here is Everything New for the Apple TV in the tvOS 18.3 Update So Far

Tuesday December 17, 2024 6:25 am PST by
Apple on Monday seeded the first tvOS 18.3 beta to developers for testing. The update will likely be released in January. So far, there are only minor changes for the Apple TV, with one new feature and a few code changes discovered. Below, we outline what is new in tvOS 18.3 so far. Robot Vacuum Support in Home App First, tvOS 18.3 will add robot vacuum support to the Home app on the...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...