Apple Store thieves face bigger penalties in California

The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.

On Election Day on November 5, voters in California overwhelmingly passed a ballot question called Proposition 36, which will undo some of the provisions of Proposition 47, which passed in 2014 and classified some shoplifting, burglary and drug crimes as misdemeanors rather than felonies.

The new measure passed with more than 70 percent of the vote, per NBC Los Angeles, means that in some cases, those crimes will once again be classified as felonies.

The measure also mandates harsher penalties if three or more people commit a crime together. That was the case in a pair of massive Apple Store theft rings in the state, the first in 2018 and the second in 2023.

Speaking of Apple Store smash-and-grabs, one such crime was reported in Valencia, Spain, in late October.

According to InSpain News, “masked thieves” struck the store on the morning of October 28, crashing a “high-end vehicle” into the store’s window and taking more than 100 Apple devices, mostly iPhones. The thieves, who escaped an Audi and another high-end car, had carried out an “alunizaje,” as ram raids are by known in Spain.

It was at least the fourth major theft at that location since 2017.

A man in Scotland attempted to carry out a fraud that entailed purchasing an iPhone and returning it. However the fraud involves replacing the device with a similar-weighted item like a bag of sugar, and on other occasions, a fake phone.

TheAlloa Advertiser reports a 24-year-old man admitted to the thefts, which took place over three weeks in late 2022.

In July, 1,689 iPhones were stolen from a locked room at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (CDCF). It was a room that only a limited number of staff had access to.

According to Inside Investigator, the stolen iPhones had a value of $87,260. As of the report’s publication on November 5, no arrests had been announced in the thefts.

Two men were arrested in Texas on October 30 after police tracked a bag with stolen AirPods in it, leading them to drugs and a stolen gun.

CBS Austin explains police chased the signal to a vehicle with two men standing nearby, who claimed that they had found the duffle bag on the street. However, a search turned up 19.2 grams of methamphetamine as well as a stolen firearm.

One man was charged with manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance. The other was charged with controlled substance possession, firearm theft, and unlawful weapon carry.

A 31-year-old former policeman in Hong Kong has received a 15-month sentence for stealing several items, including an iPad Air and jewelry.

According to South China Morning Post,” Hui Ho-shing has admitted to the thefts, out of “greed.” He was caught after the owner of the iPad tracked the device to a restaurant.

Hui had also “attempted to decrypt the stolen iPad and searched its contents before discarding the device.”

An Arizona man reportedly walked into a Cricket store on November 7, took an iPhone 16, and stuffed it down his pants before leaving the store.

In Maricopa writes the theft and pants-stuffing were caught on surveillance video. The man then left the store on a bicycle.

An iPhone 14 Pro Max belonging to a constable in India was stolen on October 31 by “miscreants,” while shopping for flowers, News Karnataka reported.

According to the report, the man was bumped, and at first he thought it was an accident. But five minutes later, he checked and realized his iPhone was missing.

The incident, per the report, has “raised concerns over safety and security in public places during festive seasons.