AppleInsider is supported by its audience and can earn commissions as an Amazon Associate and Affiliate on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not affect our editorial content.
In the latest Apple Crime Blotter, Rudy Giuliani unlocks phones for prosecutors, iCloud evidence captures a man who threatened Congressman, and multiple Walmart iPhone thefts.
The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.
Disney catches “Cast Members” stealing money in the room with iPad, AirPods
The management of a Disney resort in Louisiana caught employees stealing money and belongings from hotel rooms at the resort and used an elaborate sting operation to do so. However, they avoided stealing Apple products left in the room.
According to Disney news site WDWNT, the thefts took place in March at the Port Orleans Resort – Riverside resort. The hotel management teamed up with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to set up a decoy hotel room where cash, an iPad, and AirPods were left as “bait.”
The two employees, known as “Cast Members,” were caught stealing money but left the Apple products in the room.
Hostages Amsterdam Apple Store honored as heroes
NL Times reports that Mayor Femke Halsema honored the man held at gunpoint, as well as four others who hid in a closet during the hours-long standoff. The hostage situation ended when the man held at gunpoint fled and when the hostage-taker followed him, he was hit by a car.
Giuliani Agrees to Unlock Phones for Prosecutors
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and attorney for former President Trump, agreed to unlock several electronic devices for prosecutors, CNN reported on April 12. Prosecutors had seized 18 of Giuliani’s devices when they raided him in April 2021, and were close to a levy decision.
It’s not clear how many of the devices in question are Apple products, but Giuliani had said in a 2021 interview that the search was illegal because “they got it from the iCloud.”
The former mayor’s phone habits have made headlines other times, such as when he visited an Apple Store in October 2019 to unlock an iPhone after entering incorrect passcodes 10 times. That same month, NBC News reported that Giuliani had “phoned out” a reporter, causing that journalist to overhear and report a potentially incriminating conversation about money.
iCloud Helped Catch Man Convicted of Threatening Congressman
A Florida man pleaded guilty in April to sending a threatening email to a member of Congress, and he was caught after the email was traced to his iCloud account.
BusinessInsider writes that in July 2019, the 67-year-old man sent threats to Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, including the phrase “are you ready to die for Islam?” The man’s identity was identified when Omar’s staff passed the message on to federal investigators.
The man pleaded guilty to a single count of threatening a federal official with intent to intimidate, hinder and retaliate, and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Ex-employees accused of stealing $25,000 worth of iPhones from Walmart Distribution Center
Two Pennsylvania men are accused of stealing $25,000 worth of iPhones from their former employer, a Walmart distribution center. According to Gant News, the two men have been charged with theft by wrongful confiscation and receipt of stolen goods.
The thefts reportedly took place in late 2021. Local stores had noticed that orders for iPhones had not arrived in stores, and a colleague of the two men eventually told authorities he saw that they had taken the items.
Man admits he took 30 iPhones
In other Walmart iPhone theft news, a Nevada man has admitted to stealing 30 iPhones from a Walmart in March 2021. iPhone 12 units.
The 27-year-old confessed to breaking and entering a business and grand theft.
iPhones stolen from music festival found
More than 100 iPhones were stolen from attendees in one day at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami in late March. According to NBC Miami, a man who traced his own phone found him and 11 others in bushes outside a motel.
Criminals in Washington stole iPhones, shoes and dogs, police say
Police in Washington, DC, say a group of four perpetrators committed a crime series in mid-April in which they encountered multiple people and demanded their money, iPhones, shoes and dogs.
According to The Washingtonian, two dogs and at least two iPhones were stolen and two people were shot, both nonfatally.
This post Crime blotter: Amsterdam mayor honors survivors of Apple Store hostage standoff
was original published at “https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/04/24/crime-blotter-amsterdam-mayor-honors-survivors-of-apple-store-hostage-standoff?utm_medium=rss”
