Two thieves stole $35,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store in Palo Alto, California on Black Friday this year (November 25).
According to the San Francisco Standard, the brazen broad daylight heist was called in to the police at 4:17 p.m. Police say that the suspect was threatening violence to any employee or shopper who tried to stop the theft.
While violence was threatened, no weapons were used and no injuries were sustained by anyone involved.
The suspects are suspected to have made their getaway in a red Mazda and police are still trying to track down the criminals.
Palo Alto Police Captain James Reifschneider had this to say about the robbery when he spoke to the San Francisco Standard.
“No arrests have been made, and we have no suspect information other than both suspects were Black males in their late teens or early 20s. One was wearing a blue hoodie with black pants; the other was wearing a gray hoodie with blue jeans.”
Below is a video of the incident which was shared to Twitter by Clown World.
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) December 1, 2022
In the video, you can see the thieves walking calmly and freely about the store as they snatch phones and other electronic devices from their display stands.
No customer or employee seems to be making an attempt to stop the bad guys, but who can blame them?
Many other shops in the Bay Area are experiencing redundant crime, where anything that is not screwed into the floor could be the subject of the next robbery.
San Francisco is listed as the worst city for package theft by a SafeWise report, which may come as little surprise.
The issue of theft in has gotten so great in California that Governor Gavin Newsom even spoke a few words on the issue in a release from the California state website.
“Californians deserve to feel safe especially as they head to stores this holiday season. We’ve doubled down on our efforts to combat crime with millions of dollars to deter, arrest and successfully prosecute criminals involved in organized retail theft. This year, shopping centers across California will see saturated patrols as CHP regional teams work with local law enforcement agencies to help make arrests and recover stolen merchandise.”
You know that theft if an issue when Newsom, who is normally very forgiving of robbers, is seeing a need for better security in retail stores.
This isn’t even the first time that this exact Apple Store has been raided for massive amounts of money, the New York Post says.
“In 2018, the same store was robbed twice within 24 hours, with thieves heisting over $100,000 in merchandise, and in 2016, burglars smashed a rented car through the store’s front and made off with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.”
It seems that this robbery that looks bizarre and out of place to most Americans might just be a normal Black Friday occurrence in California.
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