Police investigate link between Apple Store break-ins in Ardmore, Marlton

Police in Lower Merion are trying to learn whether five bandits who took armloads of laptops from an Apple Store in Marlton in September might be connected to a predawn smash-and-grab on July 14 in Ardmore.

Thieves broke a front plateglass window at the Apple Store in Suburban Square and took $22,000 worth of laptop computers and other high-tech loot, police said - including 10 iPhone 4s.

Lower Merion Police Superintendent Michael J. McGrath said the theft occurred at 5:18 a.m. at the store on St. James Place. He said the burglars took 11 laptops and three iPods, as well as the iPhones.

An alarm sounded, but by the time police arrived, thieves and merchandise were gone. The stolen items were valued at $22,178, he said. No arrests were reported.

At the Apple store in Marlton in September, five masked thieves took 31 seconds to shatter the plateglass door with a brick, dash in, and grab 23 MacBook Pro computers, 14 iPhones, and nine iPod Touch units. The store is in the high-end Promenade at Sagemore shopping area.

A surveillance camera videotaped the five burglars darting through the store, scooping up the electronic items, and rushing out.

The videotape, aired on 6ABC, also showed one of the thieves fending off a security guard with a gesture suggesting a gun. The stolen merchandise in the September episode was valued at $50,000.

"We are sharing information and working with [Evesham Township] on this case," McGrath said. "We're looking to see if the actors in Marlton and Ardmore are the same."

Lt. Walt Miller of the Evesham police said Lower Merion police contacted his department after the July 14 crime. He confirmed that the departments were working together on the investigation.

Investigators were checking on whether any similar crimes had been reported in other municipalities, but there is no discernible pattern, McGrath said.

On May 14, the same Apple store in Ardmore was burglarized; thieves forced the front door and made off with various electronic gadgets. Police were investigating whether that case, too, was connected.

When popular high-tech products hit the market, McGrath said, they often are targeted by criminals hoping to fence them for a higher return than older models. Thousands of customers lined up at stores on June 24 when iPhone 4s went on sale.

At the King of Prussia mall, where some of those lines formed, no smash-and-grabs have been reported at the Apple Store and "nothing specific relating to the Apple iPhone 4 that I'm aware of," Upper Merion Township Sgt. Charles Zadroga said. But he theorized that the Suburban Square store might be more vulnerable, as it isn't inside a mall that can be closed and locked at night. The Marlton store is in an open-air shopping center.

The iPhones are marketed by AT&T stores as well as Apple Stores. Corporate representatives for Apple Inc. and AT&T would not discuss whether thieves may be targeting the newest iPhones, or comment on store security measures.

There have been scattered reports of thefts from Apple Stores as far away as Arizona and as near as Lancaster.

In Gilbert, Ariz., police were seeking two young men who stole $9,400 in merchandise on June 29 from an Apple Store in 34 seconds during an early morning break-in.

Police said the burglars used two large rocks to smash a plateglass door. The pair were caught on tape by a distant video camera, and an iPhone 4, two iPads, two MacBooks, and an iPod Touch were among the items stolen, authorities said.

In December 2008, two Apple Store locations, in Palo Alto and Los Gatos, Calif., were hit hours apart. Thieves smashed front windows and ran off with Mac laptops and iPods, police said. Losses were estimated at $10,000.

Sgt. Todd Umstead of the Lancaster police, whose turf includes an Apple Store in the Park City shopping center, said that in December, after the store opened, "someone came in and grabbed 15 items that were on display tables."

Umstead, too, said shops in malls have a security edge after hours: "To get in you'd have to break into the mall and go through metal doors."

He added, "We have not, fortunately, had any smash-and-grabs - knock on wood."