You can’t say whoever did this wasn’t determined.
In an organized operation, burglars recently cut through a wall of an adjoining shop to steal $500,000 from the Alderwood Mall Apple Store in Washington.
The thieves made off with hundreds of iPhones, as well as iPads, and Apple Watches on the evening of Sunday, April 2. There were no injuries given that the store was closed, and it wasn’t until the following morning that Apple staff learned the full scale of the heist.
The thieves had used an unconventional method and cut through a bathroom wall in the neighboring espresso machine store as their entry point. The business owner said they hadn’t experienced anything like this in their five years at the mall.
“Our front door was locked. They pried our front door open,” Seattle Coffee Gear Regional Manager Eric Marks explained to Komo News.
“[It was a] 24 by 18 hole cut in the wall into what appears to be the back room of the Apple store,” he continued. “I’m surprised we were the conduit for them to get to the Apple store, I had no clue we were so close or adjacent to them.”
According to LPD Communications Manager Maren McKay, the burglars stole approximately 436 iPhones and an unspecified number of iPads and Apple Watches. In total, they took about $500,000 worth of merchandise.
Based on the surveillance footage, Lynnwood police believe it to have been a well-organized operation. “From the masks that the folks were wearing, that there were no fingerprints left behind,” McKay added.
Seattle Coffee Gear has since changed its locks and says the incident cost them an estimated $1,800 in damages.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and Komo News