The usual informal relationship between police and criminals is that criminals commit the crimes and the police catch them. A New Orleans police officer recently decided to shake things up, however, by allegedly stealing a pair of AirPods wireless earphones from the Apple Store in Metairie, Louisiana.
24-year-old patrol officer Ayona McGilberry was issued with a summons for misdemeanor theft this week, according to a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office. McGilberry has subsequently resigned from the force.
The theft reportedly occurred Monday at around 1.40pm, when McGilberry was in the Apple Store to have her iPhone repaired. While this was happening, she asked about Apple’s AirPods and was shown a pair. However, despite saying she wouldn’t buy them at that stage, an Apple Store employee noticed her later leaving with the AirPods without paying for them.
“She grabbed them on her way out of the store and walked out with them,” the employee said.
It turns out that Ayona McGilberry was exactly a criminal mastermind, however. Despite leaving the mall where the Apple Store was located, her name and contact details were on file since she had just had her iPhone repaired. That’s about as smart as those iPad thieves who get caught after taking selfies on the stolen devices and uploading them to iCloud.
Targeting Apple Stores
Unfortunately, Apple Stores are frequently targeted by criminals — often including those you wouldn’t necessarily expect. For example, in 2015, four former Apple Store employees were charged with an Apple-related scam worth $700,000, using ill-gotten Apple gift cards.
The most significant theft of Apple devices took place in 2012 when $1.5 million worth of iPad minis were stolen from New York’s JFK airport.
Source: NOLA
