Published in Mobiles

Five stupid thieves arrested in daring $590,000 iPhone heist

by on01 August 2017


That is only about a dozen phones


Five extremely stupid Romanians carried out a daring raid from a moving truck to steal $590,000 worth of iPhones.

The logic for the raid was simple, the iPhones would be easy to sell and since they were reassuringly over-priced the value of the raid would be higher than trying to knock over an armoured bank van.

Police said that the event took place on the night of 24 July, on the A73 motorway near Horst, and the men tailgated the vehicle before one of them climbed onto the bonnet of the van and broke into the truck in front of them.

Boxes of iPhones were then passed back through the van's roof. The Romanians had taken care to modify their vehicle by putting an anti-slip mat on the bonnet. The tactic had been tried out several times since 2008, the outlet said. Belgium has witnessed similar incidents, almost all targeting smartphones. Sometimes, a grinding wheel is used to break into the truck.

Police spokesman Ed Kraszewski said Dutch police had been investigating truck thefts for some time, but doubted a theft like this could be pulled off.

"The truck was taking its freight from A to B and did not stop. Even so the phones were gone. So it must have happened that way. And now we finally have the evidence, with the van and the loot."

While the cunning plan looked like a success the men, aged from 33 to 43, were arrested on Saturday at a holiday park in Otterlo, in the central province of Gelderland. Inspector Knacker found iPhones at the address, and the van they believe was used in the crime.

The Romanians must have been wondering what went wrong, and who tipped off the coppers. The fact that one of them must have decided to take one of the iPhones for a spin, and turned it on might have had something to do with it. The fact that the thief just turned on a mobile listening device with gps and tracking ability with a bunch of angry Apple fanboys monitoring them waiting for an idiot to turn one on might have had something to do with it.

Had they been terrorists Apple would not have helped the police, but since the thieves stole the sacred Apple treasure and would damage Apple profits, they needed to be burnt at the stake on a bed of overheating lithium batteries for their heresy.

Last modified on 01 August 2017
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