Paris thieves nab $1.3M in Apple products in New Year's Eve robbery
Armed and masked robbers made off with an estimated $1.3 million in Apple products during a heist of an Apple store in central Paris on New Year's Eve.
The robbers gained access to the store via a service entrance where they assaulted the store employees, and then "calmly" picked through the boxes of Apple products, taking iPhones, iPads and MacBook laptop computers, according to Dow Jones Business News. The store closed at 1700 GMT (9 p.m. Pacific time) on Monday with a single security guard and a cleaner present, and the thieves entered three hours later.
The robbers then apparently loaded the stolen products into a vehicle and fled the scene. According to French news reports, the estimated loss was pegged at around $1.32 million U.S., though the police have not confirmed that amount.
The extent of injuries to the store employees were said to have been slight. A police spokeswoman did say that Apple employees are conducting an inventory of the store's products to determine the loss.
Apple products have been targeted by robbers in the past in France. In July 2012, a van carrying Apple products was carjacked by robbers with assault rifles in Aulnay-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Apple's stores are on occasion targets for theft, given the valuable merchandise the company sells at its retail locations. One attempted robbery in 2011 at a San Diego Apple Store led to a shootout in which a security guard killed one suspect.
The robbers gained access to the store via a service entrance where they assaulted the store employees, and then "calmly" picked through the boxes of Apple products, taking iPhones, iPads and MacBook laptop computers, according to Dow Jones Business News. The store closed at 1700 GMT (9 p.m. Pacific time) on Monday with a single security guard and a cleaner present, and the thieves entered three hours later.
The robbers then apparently loaded the stolen products into a vehicle and fled the scene. According to French news reports, the estimated loss was pegged at around $1.32 million U.S., though the police have not confirmed that amount.
The extent of injuries to the store employees were said to have been slight. A police spokeswoman did say that Apple employees are conducting an inventory of the store's products to determine the loss.
Apple products have been targeted by robbers in the past in France. In July 2012, a van carrying Apple products was carjacked by robbers with assault rifles in Aulnay-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Apple's stores are on occasion targets for theft, given the valuable merchandise the company sells at its retail locations. One attempted robbery in 2011 at a San Diego Apple Store led to a shootout in which a security guard killed one suspect.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by JollyPaul
This has the makings of an action "heist" flick.
Macheist - oh no, hang on lol.
I do believe that a store in Paris could easily inventory that much equipment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alansky
The thieves would have needed a moving van to hold more than a million dollars worth of Apple products.
It was a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.
318 cubic feet of cargo volume
iPad box = 8"x10"x2" = 160 cubic inches / 3456 = 0.463 cubic feet
318 / 0.463 = 686 ipad boxes
686 iPads do not equal $1.3 million USD
The thieves must have taken a large amount of iPhones IMO.
That store was just begging to be robbed. The service entrance (just the back entrance that goes on a smaller street behind) isn't very secured. I was once passing that way and they had just piled like 500 kg of iPads in front of the entrance with no security but a seller who was taking all inside. A few guys with bad intentions could just have punched the lone guy and fled with a few iPads. And that was in broad day.
The mean average of the iPad in France is 676 € which is $891 USD. They would need 1,481 iPads, assuming it was an equal take across the board.
The iPad mini price is lower but so are the dimensions. Still, not enough.
The iPhone 5 box dimensions are 3.25" x 5.75" x 1.75". That's 32.70" cubed is 0.0189' cubed.
318 ÷ 0.189 = 1680 iPhone 5's. The mean average is 789 € which is $1,040 USD. The would need 1,269 iPhones, assuming it was an equal take across the board.
I'd figure a larger vehicle, like a box truck, or more than one vehicle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JollyPaul
This has the makings of an action "heist" flick.
Someone should do a remake of "Killing Zoe".