Crime blotter: Man charged in car crash death of Apple employee

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Man charged in car crash death of Apple employee, cruise worker steals couple's iPhone, and more from the Apple crime blotter.

The Bridge Street Apple Store in Huntsville
The Bridge Street Apple Store in Huntsville


The latest in a continuing AppleInsider series, exploring the world of Apple-related crime.

Man arrested for striking, killing Apple engineer

A 32-year-old man was arrested this week after police say he was driving the stolen car that struck and killed a woman who worked as a technical program manager for Apple. According to People, 28-year-old Carol Major died after she was struck by the stolen car, which had run a red light and broadsided the Lyft car she was riding in, in Santa Clara, Calif. The driver, 32-year-old Claudio Perez, has been charged with murder, driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs while causing an injury, evading a police officer and auto theft.

Traffic stop leads to arrest of $2 million Best Buy theft ring

Police in Texas last month pulled over a car with "fictitious" plates, and in it they found $20,000 in stolen iPhones that they report are connected to a multi-state Best Buy theft ring. According to 12 News Now, the overall ring stole more than $2 million worth of iPhones and MacBooks. Six men from Houston, police say, carried out the ring. A separate bust that notched 27 MacBooks, per The Sun Herald, concerned the same ring.

Cruise worker got couple to give up iPhone passcode

A couple was playing a game of "Mr. and Mrs." on stage on a cruise when they revealed the passcode to the husband's missing iPhone 7 Plus to a cruise ship worker. Per iNews, when the couple got home from the cruise and synched the man's new phone with his iCloud account, they realized the cruise ship worker had been using the phone. He was later fired by the cruise ship company.

Thieves used stolen credit card for $5,000 Apple Store spree

An Alabama woman last week had her wallet stolen while eating in a restaurant- and the thieves used her credit card to spend $5,000 at a nearby Apple Store. Per WAFF, the alleged thieves were spotted on camera while at the Bridge Street Town Centre Apple Store in Huntsville.

iPhone, MacBook data helped catch accused "fake news" entrepreneur

A Pennsylvania man who is accused of running a "fake news" website allegedly forged an email that he used as the basis of a news story- and prosecutors say iPhone and MacBook data seized from his home "contained overwhelming evidence" that he created the email himself. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nikolaos "Nik the Hat" Hatziefstathiou is accused of doctoring an email to make it appear as though an employee of a county parole board had authored a racist email. But prosecutors say the data shows the email was not genuine and created by the accused. Hatziefstathiou, who has been charged with tampering with public records, forgery, identity theft, will be arraigned next month.

iPhone stolen out of woman's hand in Philadelphia

A 27-year-old woman had an iPhone XS stolen right out of her hand while on a street in Center City Philadelphia in mid-August. Per 6ABC, the thief grabbed the phone and immediately took off for a nearby subway entrance.

Accused package thief spent $4,000 at Apple Store

Police are searching for an Oregon man who they say stole a credit card from a package, and used that credit card to spend $4,100at a nearby Apple Store. Per KATU, the man had been seen following UPS and FedEx trucks, while driving a Mercedes M-Class.

Mac minis, other electronics stolen from school

More than $30,000 in electronics, including an iPad and 16 Mac mini computers were stolen from the Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. Per The Philadelphia Inquirer, the thefts took place over two different nights the first week of August. Teenagers, who were caught on police surveillance video, are suspected of the crime.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,360member
    It's not much consolation considering the life lost, but it's fitting that the driver is being charged with murder. 

    As for people being robbed of their phones and tablets, it happens almost routinely where I live. Getting off mass transit while holding your phone makes you a target. Somebody runs by just as you step off and rips it out of your hand. I seldom use public transportation and put my kit away before getting out of my seat.

    An advantage of the Apple Card is cancelling it immediately once you know it's missing. In this case it looks like she never knew it was missing until she got a notification of the sale. The two guys look like they could be family members.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Yay, Philadelphia and PA... My state is “in the news” again.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    In California robbing people of iPhones and tablets is a misdemeanor .
  • Reply 4 of 10
    mobirdmobird Posts: 753member
    tzeshan said:
    In California robbing people of iPhones and tablets is a misdemeanor .
    What is it if you rob someone who has a Galaxy?  ;)
  • Reply 5 of 10
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,360member
    tzeshan said:
    In California robbing people of iPhones and tablets is a misdemeanor .
    Bullshit. In CA robbing people of anything, even a Galaxy, is a felony, 211PC.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    frantisekfrantisek Posts: 756member
    From other side. Is there any law that would punish leaving intentionally or creating weak spot in software, creating backdoor?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,421member
    tzeshan said:
    In California robbing people of iPhones and tablets is a misdemeanor .
    Who told you that because it's not true. It's a felony to rob a person. Always been. I think you're misunderstanding the use of words. Robbing means taking property from someone against their will with threat of violence. It's a felony. Petty theft worth less than $950, simple drug possession, and writing illegal checks are no longer a felony in CA since the victims are not physically threatened. The goal is to reduce prison overcrowding and to redirect money to be spent on programs to reduce dropouts and truancy among high school kids, mental health care, and any programs designed to keep people out of trouble.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    Arina14Arina14 Posts: 29member
    AppleInsider said:

    Man arrested for striking, killing Apple engineer

    A 32-year-old man was arrested this week after police say he was driving the stolen car that struck and killed a woman who worked as a technical program manager for Apple. According to People, 28-year-old Carol Major died after she was struck by the stolen car, which had run a red light and broadsided the Lyft car she was riding in, in Santa Clara, Calif. The driver, 32-year-old Claudio Perez, has been charged with murder, driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs while causing an injury, evading a police officer and auto theft.


    It's so unfortunate when lives get to collide like this- there are so many destructive forces around us
  • Reply 9 of 10
    disneylandmandisneylandman Posts: 297member
    netrox said:
    tzeshan said:
    In California robbing people of iPhones and tablets is a misdemeanor .
    Who told you that because it's not true. It's a felony to rob a person. Always been. I think you're misunderstanding the use of words. Robbing means taking property from someone against their will with threat of violence. It's a felony. Petty theft worth less than $950, simple drug possession, and writing illegal checks are no longer a felony in CA since the victims are not physically threatened. The goal is to reduce prison overcrowding and to redirect money to be spent on programs to reduce dropouts and truancy among high school kids, mental health care, and any programs designed to keep people out of trouble.
    Says the guy that voted for the propositions that did nothing as he claims above.  All it did was release criminals from prison so they can go out and commit more crimes because now they know they won't go to prison for it.  Crime has increased as a result because all they get now is a slap on the hand.  Since robbing someone of a phone is not considered a 'violent crime', they will walk.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,360member
    disneylandman said:
    Since robbing someone of a phone is not considered a 'violent crime', they will walk.
    Also bullshit. It's still robbery and still a felony. But there are non-violent crimes that are not getting jail sentences, due to in large part, over crowding, and in larger part to NIMBY for jail and prison construction.

    Auto burglaries have skyrocketed. And parolees have a very high recidivism rate and many have been responsible for violent crimes after their release. It will very by region and state, but that's how it is here. I don't claim to know the exact reasons, but there is absolute correlation that I believe to also be causation.

    Arina14 said:
    It's so unfortunate when lives get to collide like this- there are so many destructive forces around us

    There's no denying that. Her family and friends have my sympathy.

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