Apple Stores Hit by Smash-and-Grab Teams During Holiday Shopping Surge

Smash-and-grab teams working in groups are cleaning out Apple stores with holiday shoppers inside.

About 10 of these aggressive robberies have been reported everywhere from Burlingame to Berkeley.

A San Francisco Apple store was subjected to two commercial grand thefts, prompting police to seek the public's assistance in identifying the suspects.

The first theft at the store on the 2100 block of Chestnut Street occurred at 5:40 p.m. on Nov. 25. Surveillance video shows three suspect enter the store and then immediately start grabbing display items. The suspects then run off with the items, which appears to be iPhones and iPods.

Smash-and-grab teams working in groups are cleaning out Apple stores with holiday shoppers inside. Rick Boone reports.

The suspects strike again at 6:20 p.m. on Nov. 29. This time, a group of four suspects ransack the store. A person is seen on surveillance video trying to keep the store doors closed from the outside in an attempt to prevent the suspects from leaving, but the suspects eventually push through and run off.

The bold thieves don’t appear to be scaring shoppers away, but police believe that such crimes won’t stop anytime soon, especially with the holidays about to hit their peak.