Bathroom thieves allegedly stole $500,000 worth of iPhone from Apple Store
Breaking into the Apple Store’s secure doors seems like a daunting task even for ambitious burglars. But what if you didn’t have to find a way to get through the doors of an Apple Store after hours, but instead could sneak into a modest store next to it? Breaking into an Apple Store to steal an alleged $500,000 worth of iPhone sounds like something out of a (not particularly exciting) heist movie. But, as a gaping hole in the bathroom of Seattle Coffee Gear’s espresso machine store would tell you, this isn’t Ocean’s Eleven.
According to the Seattle King 5 News on Tuesday, two men allegedly broke into the Lynnwood, Washington, Seattle Coffee Gear before cutting a large hole in the store’s bathroom wall that connects to the back room of a nearby Apple Store.
Mike Atkinson, CEO of Seattle Coffee Gear, said on Twitter that CCTV footage shows the two perpetrators getting in and out in “less than 15 minutes”.
He also shared an image showing the mess the team allegedly left in the Seattle Coffee Gear bathroom:
Good morning Twitter lovers! Yesterday was a strange day…
1. Two men broke into one of our stores. Why? Cut a hole in the bathroom wall to gain access to the Apple Store next door and steal a $500,000 Iphone?
2. Later that night, on my way to the grocery store, my wife… pic.twitter.com/DcUld6ULED
Police told King 5 news that 436 iPhones were stolen, with a total loss estimated at $500,000.
Locks at Seattle Coffee Gear are reported to cost nearly $900 to replace, while the coffee shop expects bathroom renovations to cost between $600 and $800.
The speed and detailed execution of this theft led some, such as Atkinson, to suspect that it was some kind of inside job. In an interview with King 5 News, regional retail manager Eric Marks said the perpetrators even managed to cut through the bathroom wall without hitting the pipes.
Marks said none of the employees were at Apple or Seattle Coffee Gear stores when the crime allegedly occurred.
Alderwood Mall, where the stores are located, told King 5 News that it was working with police. Apple did not respond to a King 5 News request for comment and has historically not commented on store robberies.
Other memorable iHeists
iPhones have been the target of theft for a long time, but this instance in particular seems to be more planned than usual and is associated with a huge amount of loot.
In contrast, other recent cases have attempted to take advantage of the Apple Store’s lax physical security on display devices, with masked and/or hooded thieves simply snatching iPhones from tables in front of customers and employees.
One of the most brazen examples occurred in 2022, when two people stole $35,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store in Palo Alto on Black Friday afternoon. As you might expect, the store was full of people with camera phones, and footage quickly made its way online:
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We have also seen the same Apple stores hit multiple times, such as a Berkeley, California store that was attacked three times in nine days in 2016, and a San Francisco store that was hit twice in four days. attacks, including just 12 seconds.
The Apple Store doesn’t even have to be in business to be a target. In August 2022, local authorities reported that four people had stolen more than 220 phones, 200 Apple Watches, and 50 AirPods from a Woodlands, Texas store before it even opened to its first customer, according to ABC 13 News.
And while $500,000 is one of the largest dollar amounts associated with a single Apple Store heist, there have been allegations of $1 million in schemes. In 2018, 17 people were arrested and charged with robbing Apple Stores in 19 California counties for more than $1 million.
Many will point out that Apple can remotely block stolen products, but that doesn’t seem to stop people from taking extreme measures to get a five-finger discount.
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