“A Los Angeles man accused of crashing his SUV through an Apple storefront in Temecula [California] in a brazen burglary last week pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Sept. 12, to multiple felonies,” Sarah Burge reports for The Press Enterprise. “Equonne R. Howard, 22, is being held on $600,000 bail, which is the estimated damage to the Apple Store, authorities said,” Burge reports. “He is charged with vandalism, burglary and theft of electronics in connection with the break-in, as well as burglary and theft of merchandise later in the day from a 7-Eleven, court records show.”

“Prosecutors also allege Howard, who was on parole, has a 2010 burglary conviction from Los Angeles County and a 2008 robbery conviction,” Burge reports.

Equonne Romon Howard, 22, of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the Temecula Apple Store. (Photo: Riverside County Sheriff's Dept.)

Equonne Romon Howard, 22, of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the Temecula Apple Store. (Photo: Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept.)

“Riverside County sheriff’s officials said Howard used his own 2003 BMW X5 to smash through the glass storefront and metal security gate about 5 a.m. Sept. 6. Surveillance footage shows other men with their faces covered jumping out of the SUV and beginning to grab iPhones and iPads off display tables, sheriff’s officials said.”

Burge reports, “Sgt. Kevin McDonald said the badly damaged BMW, which was left with two flat tires, did not make it far from the crime scene. Howard apparently switched out one flat for the spare tire and went to a nearby 7-Eleven to steal a container of Fix-A-Flat, he said. Howard was detained near the Promenade mall Apple Store a few hours after the break-in with the keys to the BMW in his pocket, authorities said. Sheriff’s officials suspect he might have returned to look for a license plate that was left behind.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers "Fred Mertz" and "Dan K." for the heads up.]