AppleInsider is supported by its audience and can earn commissions as an Amazon Associate and Affiliate on qualifying purchases. These partner relationships do not affect our editorial content.
In the latest Apple Crime Blotter, an arrest is made in a 2021 Apple Store theft, an iPhone warehouse theft, and a state ban on filming the police.
The last in every now and then AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.
Arrest made in smash-and-grab at Apple Store in Greenwich
Smash-and-grab thefts at Apple Store locations have become relatively rare of late. But an arrest was made at once this weekof a theft that has taken place last August.
According to The registered citizen, police have made an arrest in an Apple Store break-in that occurred in August 2021. $12,000 in merchandise was stolen, including 13 iPhones and headphones. A 22-year-old man, already in prison on an unrelated charge, was charged with third-degree burglary and second-degree theft.
Professional wrestlers use Find My iPhone to recover stolen AirPods
A husband and wife who happen to work as professional wrestlers used Find My iPhone to successful detection the woman’s wallet after it was stolen on an airplane.
PW Insider reports that the wrestlers, known as Bryan Idol and Natalia Markova of the NWA, flew to Florida and found that Markova’s wallet had been stolen after landing. The two realized Markova’s AirPods were in the bag and used Find My iPhone, eventually tracking the wallet to a Walmart 40 minutes away.
When they arrived, Markova received a warning that her credit card was being used.
Perhaps true to their profession, the two confronted the thief and took him down.
The stolen items were recovered, but while the police arrested the man, the wrestlers refused to press charges.
Arizona law makes it illegal to film police within six feet
Numerous cases of police misconduct in recent years have been captured on smartphone cameras, including the murder of George Floyd, which was filmed with an iPhone.
Now Arizona has passed a law that makes it illegal to film law enforcement activities within six feet. According to axiosthe new law is intended to “protect police officers from harm”.
Numerous groups, including the ACLU, called the new law is unconstitutional.
A bill in Ohio, in 2021, would similar banbut it was changed after a public controversy.
Two accused of stealing nearly 100 Apple devices from warehouse
Two Florida men charged the end of June stealing nearly 100 Apple devices from a Best Buy warehouse in Texas. According to wear TVthe two men were caught when they were apprehended in a stolen vehicle, one that also contained drugs.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office described the items as “92 factory-sealed Apple devices,” which mostly appeared to be several MacBooks.
Apple Watch may have helped solve a murder
A 2021 murder that took place in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, may have… dissolved due to an Apple Watch left in a car attached to the case.
The Delaware County Times say police found a blue Volkswagen allegedly involved in the crime. In it, they discovered a striking Rose Gold Apple Watch.
When the car was turned on, the watch synchronized with the car radio, giving rise to the nickname ‘Big 53’. After a search warrant from Apple, that handle was traced to a person, who was later arrested for the murder.
Man has iPhone, other stuff stolen by woman he met in a bar
A man who had spent a night with ‘a red-haired woman he met at a bar in Fort Lauderdale’ woke up to find various valuables stolenincluding his iPhone 12 Pro, The Miami Herald reported.
The man, who was drugged with GHB, lost more than $52,500 in items, including the iPhone, two expensive watches and $1,000 in cash.
Evidence of seized iPhone used in child pornography charge
A man from Massachusetts has been sued on federal charges of child pornography after authorities seized his iPhone and laptop and found the offending images.
The same man had been convicted of similar charges in 2002.
Apple products broken into Harvard dorms
Harvard University police have warned of a series of burglaries and thefts in the student rooms of the university. The Boston Globe reports that a break-in at Wigglesworth Hall resulted in the theft of an Apple iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and a pair of Airpods.
A separate burglary involved the theft of a MacBook Air.
iCloud video used to convict FaceTime-using drug dealer
A 50-year-old Pennsylvania man described as a “relapsed drug gang leader” was sentenced to: 15 years in prison on drug possession. According to a news report, the man often used FaceTime to consult with minors instead of text messages or phone calls.
According to The Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSome of the evidence that convicted the man came from his iCloud account, where the man “showed off a stack worth about $200,000 while his girlfriend warned him not to film himself with that much cash.”