It’s not quite the equivalent of the bank robbery scene in “Heat”, but it’s getting there. On Wednesday, three “husky” men in hoodies driving a white Dodge van broke into a UPS truck Wednesday while it was parked outside a San Francisco Apple Store.
The UPS truck was delivering 313 iPhone X units to the Apple Store, wherein the robbery itself occurred between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. PT.
The total value of the stolen merchandise was estimated to be more than $370,000. The iPhone X, which becomes available in stores Friday, starts at $999 apiece. The suspects have yet to be caught.
Each iPhone X device was cataloged with a description and serial number and customers who planned to pick up their preordered iPhones at the Stonestown store will still get their devices on time, a person familiar with the matter said.
Where Apple’s “Find My iPhone” and remote lockout features have led to a drop in stolen devices, thieves can still turn a profit by getting their hands on the devices before these services have been activated.
If there was ever a demand for a new iPhone, it may be with the iPhone X. Customers apparently preordered more than twice as many iPhone X units in the first four days than the previous record holder, the iPhone 6, according to data from Slice Intelligence. The handset has also been noted for its reportedly sparse supplies, with some preorders having been pushed back to mid-December delivery dates.
As for the theft, the UPS driver had locked the cargo area after parking outside the Stonestown Galleria mall in the southwest Lakeside neighborhood of San Francisco, according to the police report. A janitor spotted the suspects unloading boxes from the UPS truck and into a Dodge van and snapped a photo.
UPS said it’s working with law enforcement investigating the theft.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.