Duo steals hundreds of iPhones, sells them all to one person

Apple's no stranger to having its wares ganked (a lot), but this one really has us scratching our noggins some kind of fierce. Apparently a couple of meddlesome 20-somethings working at a Salem, New Hampshire Apple store managed to scoot away with somewhere between 330 and 700 iPhones. After somehow stuffing that many handsets into a panel van / pickup truck / privately owned C-130, they seemingly sweet talked a single high-roller into snatching up their entire stash for upwards of $138,000 -- which could be a bargain (or not) depending on the actual quantity included in the deal, internal capacity, etc. Minutiae aside, both individuals are currently residing under the strong arm of the law (surveillance cameras are hard to dodge), but curiously, nothing is mentioned about the buyer who didn't find spending over a hundred large with a couple of average joes (who just happened to have an inordinately large amount of iPhones for sale) the least bit odd.

[Thanks, Scott]

[John @ Mar 27th 2008 4:21PM]

330-700 ummmm...Shouldnt the store know this? inventory control? Seems like a heck of a range to not know how many.

[Shadowise @ Mar 27th 2008 4:05PM]

I guess America's dumbest criminals will have material for a few more seasons...

[sk8rpro @ Mar 27th 2008 8:06PM]

And today's moral of the story is: if you screw Apple, then Apple with f*** you.

[Flashpoint @ Mar 27th 2008 9:12PM]

I've worked in Circuit City and Best Buy back when I was in College.

The LP teams aren't fools. If you steal from the store, they usually have plenty of ways to figure out who you were and when you did it. They've got digital cameras in the stores, reciepts, time sheets, everything you could imagine. I doubt Apple stores would be any different.

When I was in BBY for example, they were losing "crates" of Motorola Razrs which had to have been done in the recieving department since they do a thorough job of ensuring the floors are controlled and employees don't have anywhere to hide items.

These guys WERE STUPID to think they could get away with this.

[Blackstar @ Mar 28th 2008 12:15PM]

Just goes to show you.... not everyone who works at the Apple Store is a genius. ;)

[Eric M. @ Mar 27th 2008 4:07PM]

I don't get it, so is eBay just to hard for these guys to understand?

[Mr.Tech @ Mar 27th 2008 7:46PM]

Even if they sell it on eBay. They will need some real documents to back them up on where they got it =D. I'm a powerseller so I should know ;)

[jericho @ Mar 27th 2008 4:08PM]

I'm guessing the one person was a law-enforcement official...

[Tony Rayo @ Mar 27th 2008 5:25PM]

Or someone who knew they were hot and was hoping to make a profit on his investment.

[Cassini @ Mar 27th 2008 9:13PM]

Well, you know what they say:
An apple a day, keeps the doctor away;
Hundreds of Apples a day, keeps... hmmm... well, I guess I really don't know where I was going with this...

Oh well! Have fun wit dem iPhones!

[atlasfugged @ Mar 28th 2008 1:01AM]

Purchasing that amount of stolen merchandise, with the knowledge that it was stolen, constitutes a felony in most, if not all, states in the U.S. I find it improbable that a purchaser of such a large and expensive quantity of merchandise from an ostensibly illegitimate source would consider that merchandise anything else but stolen. The fact that the purchaser of the merchandise was not named in the article suggests to me that the unnamed purchaser was indeed an agent of law enforcement. Catching the duo in the act of selling the stolen iPods enhances the catalog of evidence against them, and opens them up to additional charges.

[BrianM @ Mar 28th 2008 7:15AM]

Maybe they had a little apple logo on their shirts! I would think they were legitimately selling me the phones in back alley out of a white unmarked van if they had an apple logo. :)

[Scottie @ Mar 27th 2008 4:09PM]

I wonder if they had a chance to steal that many Zunes, would they have done so?

[xiln @ Mar 27th 2008 4:15PM]

I don't know, but why do you insist on smoking in our oxygen bar?

[The Dude @ Mar 27th 2008 4:15PM]

Now you've gone and done it; you've stirred the shit cauldron by invoking a completely unrelated product. Enjoy the tearing of a new cleft asshole that deservingly awaits you. Perhaps afterwards you can present it to El Jobso for a fudge-packingly good time.

[patriotsn1 @ Mar 27th 2008 4:35PM]

nope,
http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/03/16/stolen-zune-recovered-using-wireless.aspx

[Frank Furter @ Mar 27th 2008 4:35PM]

Seems like the perfect time for my classic....wait for it.....

WHAT'S A ZUNE?????

[Andrew Campbell @ Mar 27th 2008 4:38PM]

@ The Dude - What's that term you seem to like so much? "Waaahmbulance"?

[The Dude @ Mar 27th 2008 7:23PM]

@Andrew:
It's stuck in traffic trying to get to other guy in the OLPC entry. The Dude is not in need of one nor has he received word of one being called, so The Dude is befuddled as to its present pertinence.

[Rick @ Mar 27th 2008 4:10PM]

The report doesn't say that they were employees of the Apple Store. Surveillance video showed them heisting cases of iPhones.

[Greg Fabry @ Mar 27th 2008 4:13PM]

Yes it did.

"Apparently a couple of meddlesome 20-somethings working at a Salem, New Hampshire Apple store managed to scoot away with somewhere between 330 and 700 iPhones."

[Darren @ Mar 27th 2008 4:15PM]

Actually, it does. Not in the writeup, mind you, but it explains that both were employees in the video.

[anonapple @ Mar 27th 2008 5:45PM]

Yes, they were employees. Nashed was a manager. I worked with Nashed and that Apple store for over a year.

What amuses me is that these are not the only shenanigans that have happened at this store. Hopefully, the entire management team is going to get run through the wash a few times to weed out "ALL" the unethical manager(s) in that store.

[Mr. Gremlin @ Mar 27th 2008 4:12PM]

How about telling us how they got caught?

"Police said they have surveillance video showing Christopher Nashed, 22, of Sandown, N.H., and Joshua Garrard, 28, of Methuen, Mass., taking cases of iPhones from the Rockingham Mall store." - From the "Read" link

... so it seems that selling them all to one person wasn't really a bad idea, and they may have even had the person lined up as a buyer before stealing the phones, and if thats the case, then I would imagine that they could bring him down by affiliation. If thats not the case, then the buyer really didn't do anything wrong as he could easily "claim" he didn't know they were hot.

[FRZ @ Mar 27th 2008 4:19PM]

Seriously?

[Marc @ Mar 27th 2008 4:21PM]

Fair cop guv'na!

[Ty @ Mar 27th 2008 4:57PM]

The store probably did know. When they told the cops, who checked the surveillance tap, recognized the easily recognizable perps (since they worked at the store) and then arrested them.

It'd be really funny if they got arrested coming back to work the next day.

[bsm0f0 @ Mar 27th 2008 5:07PM]

@ Ty

Almost as bad as getting fired on your day off.

[doerrfan @ Mar 27th 2008 4:19PM]

Holy Crap i go to that Apple Store!
And holy crap theres someone there named Chris who looks like him!
Probably not the real guy though, i see a slight difference.

[zed @ Mar 27th 2008 4:48PM]

if you know all the employees names at your local apple store, you go there too much.

[doerrfan @ Mar 27th 2008 4:50PM]

I only remember his name cause he sold me my iPhone not to long ago.

[ShadowMaker @ Mar 27th 2008 4:56PM]

You mean he sold you all of your 700+ iPhones, right?

[anonapple @ Mar 27th 2008 5:48PM]

No you got the right guy. That's Chris Nashed alright..

[Laron @ Mar 27th 2008 4:24PM]

apple fanboy story gone bad...

[Ty @ Mar 27th 2008 4:58PM]

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I'M APPLE'S BIGGEST FAN!"

[CraigJ @ Mar 27th 2008 5:54PM]

*Number 1 fan

[Eitel @ Mar 27th 2008 4:26PM]

Funny. I bought both my iPhones, my iMac and my MacBook from that store.

[Philippe @ Mar 27th 2008 4:32PM]

Did you also happen to buy 328 to 698 other iPhones from that store? ;-)

[Boarderwoot @ Mar 27th 2008 4:28PM]

"Hi, I'm a pc."
"and I'm a mac. Nowadays we both have lots in common."
"Thats true mac but your target audience seems to be a self centered, self glorifying, self everything concerned only about posting their latest webcam video of them making a complete ass of themselves for the world to see on YouTube. Atleast the uptight refined populus that would steal my shit would make sure there were no cameras. I hope those fools get iLife."

[Frank Furter @ Mar 27th 2008 4:38PM]

That was very insightful. Not only did you manage to make comments completely unrelated to the story, they are flat out silly. Does your Mom know you're on the computer?

[Boarderwoot @ Mar 27th 2008 4:46PM]

Wow, completely unrelated tangent not at all concerned with a story completely lacking in the most common details usually provided in a story like this. Begging your so hopefully ever gracious pardon Franky but if you haven't noticed most stories on this website spawn nothing but completely unrelated tangents...and yes my mother does know i'm on the computer, thats why im here instead of searching for porn at the current moment.

[!!! @ Mar 27th 2008 5:15PM]

Fail for unfunny initial post.
Fail for dull response.
Fail for excessive use of adjectives and adverbs as well as other bad grammar.
Fail for instigating suggested problem further by trolling. (Pot. Kettle. Black.)
Fail for attempting sarcasm on the internet.

[Andrew Campbell @ Mar 27th 2008 5:19PM]

Fail for copying Eric.

[Frank Furter @ Mar 27th 2008 5:22PM]

But success! In finding his Mom while surfing porn!

[lanejasper69 @ Mar 27th 2008 7:44PM]

Hi, "I Don't Spellcheck"


LOL

[ratnikh @ Mar 27th 2008 7:46PM]

EPIC WIN
i'm making prons of his mom with my stolen iphone

[Shadow @ Mar 28th 2008 9:18PM]

No your not...
you cant video on the iphone :P

[Andrew Campbell @ Mar 27th 2008 4:37PM]

@ The Dude - What's that term you seem to like so much? "Waaahmbulance"?

[Andrew Campbell @ Mar 27th 2008 4:38PM]

Yay for missing the reply button!

[Eric @ Mar 27th 2008 4:47PM]

Fail for unfunny.
Fail for trying to play it off via self deprication.