iPhone X heist lands thieves $370,000 worth of hot Apple hardware

By Lulu Chang Published November 3, 2017

While the rest of us line up for our first hands-on interactions with the highly anticipated iPhone X, a few thieves managed to get their hands on the smartphones ahead of schedule. On Wednesday, November 1, a group of nefarious actors allegedly conducted a truly 21st-century heist, snagging not gold, but a batch of the new iPhone X from a delivery truck.

As initially reported by local San Francisco news station KTSF, three “husky” men staked out a UPS truck, and took over 300 iPhone X’s with an estimated value of around $370,000. The robbery reportedly occurred sometime between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. PT. Although the UPS truck driver locked his doors upon his arrival at the Stonestown Galleria mall, this was apparently not enough to deter the thieves, who broke into the truck and made away with their loot in a white Dodge van.

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According to SFPD Taraval police Capt. Rick Yick, “A witness observed three unidentified suspects wearing hooded sweatshirts exit a white Dodge van.” And while the suspects have yet to be apprehended, local law enforcement are asking concerned citizens to help with recovery efforts. Police believe that the heist had been carefully planned, with Yick noting, “It appears the suspects knew what they were looking for. Given the dollar value in the incident itself, it appears it was planned.”

Luckily for law-abiding citizens who were actually waiting their turn to, you know, purchase the newest iPhone, the availability of the handset at Stonestown Galleria was unaffected by the theft.

Luckily, the iPhone X has an IMEI serial number, which means that the handsets can be tracked. As such, it seems unlikely that the suspects will get away with their crime for long, particularly if they plan on reselling the iPhones. As SFPD spokeswoman Grace Gatapandan said, “If you’re going to purchase stuff, go to an actual store to purchase it.”

In any case, you certainly don’t have to worry about Apple in the midst of all this drama. The company is slated to make a cool $84 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2018, with much of this revenue projected to come from tremendous holiday sales of the iPhone X.

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