The California crime wave continues to worsen as a pair of thieves were caught on video stealing roughly $35,000 worth of Apple products in broad daylight — while terrified customers and store employees watched.
On Black Friday in Palo Alto, California, the seemingly unarmed robbers were seen ripping multiple iPhones and laptops off of display tables and pushing past customers — all while everyone in the busy store stood by and simply watched, doing nothing to stop them.
Speaking with Palo Alto Online, police acting Capt. James Reifschnieder revealed that an Apple employee had heard one of the robbers threaten violence against anyone who attempted to stop them. Reifschneider also noted in his comments that the crime was reported at 4:17 p.m. on November 25.
Video of the robbery has gone viral on social media and shows the pair of thieves with their faces mostly covered, carrying backpacks. One is wearing a blue hoodie and black pants, while the other is dressed in a gray hoodie and blue jeans. The men are seen walking around the store going from table to table and shoving Apple products into their bags.
Apple employees are seen on the video ushering customers away from the robbers, while someone is heard telling people to back up.
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) December 1, 2022
Only one person can be heard actually asking if they should do something to put an end to the brazen robbery, saying: “Yo, should we stop them?”
Meanwhile, police have stated that the violent threat from one of the thieves elevated the crime from a burglary shoplift to a robbery. No weapons were seen during the crime, and no one was injured.
The thieves fled the scene in a red Mazda3 hatchback, and a security guard reportedly spotted them traveling north on U.S. Highway 101.
No arrests have been made, but police have described the suspects as two black males in their late teens or early 20s.
This is not the first time that this Apple store was targeted. In 2018, the store was robbed twice within 24 hours, and the thieves made off with more than $100,000 worth of products. In 2016, robbers drove a rental car through the front of the store, stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of products.
2 guys escape w/$35K in iPhones & laptops in daylight grab-and-go at @Apple store on University downtown, per @PaloAltoPolice, adding one thief threatened physical violence to anyone who tried to stop them, elevating case from burglary-shoplift to robbery in latest caper at store pic.twitter.com/ks8zuUxh5a
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) December 2, 2022
