Seventeen charged in Apple theft ring that stole $1 million in merchandise

California has filed charges against a group of individuals who are said to have stolen more than $1 million from Apple Stores throughout the state. Seventeen people were allegedly involved in the burglary ring: seven were arrested earlier this week, one is detained, and the remaining are still at large.

The group’s strategy was simply to run into the stores wearing hoodies, grab as many display products as possible, and run out. Each robbery took only seconds to execute, and in some instances, the group was able to grab more than $20,000 in merchandise.

‪Were looking for these five suspects involved in a commercial burglary last night before 9pm at the Apple Store in South Coast Plaza. Suspects fled with merchandise with an estimated value of $29k. Suspects’ description: males, African American, early to mid 20s. Any info, call our Detective Bureau at 714-754-5637‬. *The brave man at the end of the video that is trying to detain a suspect is an off-duty officer from another department who was at the store at the time of the incident. Thank you, sir.

Posted by Costa Mesa Police Department on Tuesday, July 24, 2018

These California-based Apple Store robberies have been happening for the past few weeks. Three men involved were first identified on September 12th after police pursued the suspects in a vehicle chase, and they were caught after crashing their car twice, then attempting to run after abandoning the car.

“Organized retail thefts cost California business owners millions and expose them to copycat criminals. Ultimately, consumers pay the cost of this merchandise hijacking,” California attorney general Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We will continue our work with local law enforcement authorities to extinguish this mob mentality and prosecute these criminals to hold them accountable.”