Thieves hit Apple Store twice in a matter of hours

The Apple store at 340 University Ave. in Palo Alto. Post file photo.

By the Daily Post staff

The downtown Palo Alto Apple Store has been hit twice by thieves in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday (Sept. 22) at 7:05 p.m., eight men between the ages of 16 and 25 burst into the store at 340 University Ave. and grabbed $57,000 in merchandise, according to Palo Alto police Sgt. Craig Lee.

Eleven hours later, at 5:52 a.m. today (Sept. 23), a passer-by on University Avenue alerted police there was a gaping hole in the plate-glass doors in front of the store, Lee said. Somebody had smashed the door overnight and took a yet-to-be-determined amount of merchandise. Police are waiting for an inventory of stolen items from Apple.

These weren’t the first heists from the downtown Apple Store. On Sept. 1, a four-member crew grabbed $40,000 in merchandise while bystanders watched or shot video of the scene with their iPhones. Apple Stores elsewhere in the Bay Area have been targeted in similar heists.