Thieves make off with $500,000 in merchandise from Seattle Apple store after tunneling through a bathroom wall

Around 7 pm on April 2 thieves made off with about $500,000 worth of Apple products after tunneling their way into a Seattle Apple store. According to a report by the Daily Mail, the burglars cut open a 12 by 18-inch hole from the neighboring coffee shop's bathroom, into the store's storage area.  

Employees didn't know the crime had occurred until they came in to work the next day. When they proceed to notify police. 

The Seattle Coffee Gear regional manager Eric Marks stated that their “front door was locked, they pried our front door open.” A report from local news KOMO, said that this is the first time they have had to deal with something like this and the damages cost them around $1,800.  

Lynwood police noted based on the mall’s security footage that the thieves were wearing masks and left no fingerprints at the scene. Saying that the heist was “well-thought-out.” It is unknown if they were hiding out in the coffee shop after it closed, or if they broke in there prior to the Apple store. 

 LPD Communications Manager Maren McKay stated that “approximately 436 iPhones in total were taken out of the back,” and “in total, about $500,000 worth of merchandise was stolen, and that's iPhones, iPads, and Apple watches.” 

Retail theft has increasingly become a massive problem nationwide. In March all of the Walmarts in Portland were forced to close, leaving many to wonder if this was the result of rampant shoplifting. In December Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned that if laws that took a more lenient approach to fighting crime were not addressed then results would be “prices will be higher, and/or stores will close." 

On Black Friday, an Apple store in San Francisco was the victim of a “smash-and-grab” operation that was caught on camera. This incident resulted in the thieves making off with over $35,000 in Merchandise. 

In November it was reported that one prosecutor in Multnomah County Oregon is only prosecuting 46% of misdemeanor theft cases. Where shoplifting had gotten so bad that many of the local stores didn’t even bother calling the police to report it.