“It’s a natural instinct to resist if someone tries to steal something out of your hand,” Chris Matyszczyk reports for CNET. “In Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon, that instinct might have cost a 15-year-old boy his life.”
“As the Las Vegas Sun reports, Marcos Vincente Arenas was walking down the street, holding an iPad,” Matyszczyk reports. “Police say an SUV pulled up alongside him. A man allegedly got out of the passenger seat and tried to wrest the iPad from Arenas.”
Matyszczyk reports, “The teen wouldn’t let go of the device, so, investigators say, he was dragged along by the alleged thief toward the vehicle. He was still near the passenger door when the car took off. Arenas was run over and died in hospital of his injuries.”
Read more in the full article here.
“Metro Police also released photos of what were described as a ‘person of interest and a vehicle of interest’ in the case,” Tovin Lapan, Paul Takahashi, and Jackie Valley report for The Las Vegas Sun. “Investigators determined Arenas was walking on the south side of Charleston Boulevard carrying the iPad when a white vehicle, believed to be a Ford Explorer or Expedition manufactured between 2008 and 2010, stopped and a man exited the passenger side of the vehicle.”
“The suspect who exited the vehicle and accosted the teen was described as a white male adult in his late 20s, about 6 feet tall and weighing between 180 and 200 pounds. He has short blond hair, which was slicked back and shaved on the sides and a neatly trimmed beard. He was last seen wearing a white tank top and blue jeans,” Lapan, Takahashi, and Valley report. “The person driving the vehicle was described as a black male adult in his mid-20s with a medium build and a fade haircut. He may have large tattoos on both arms and was last seen wearing a black shirt and possibly a long chain necklace with a pendant.”
Lapan, Takahashi, and Valley report, “The crime is part of a trend called ‘apple picking’ — street slang used to describe thefts of Apple products, such as iPhones, iPods and iPads, Cassell said. ‘They’re valuable; they are something that can be quickly sold,’ he said. ‘They’re lightweight, portable — you can run and hide with them. It’s about the next best thing to stealing money.'”
Read more in the full article here.
I say we rip off the perp’s arms, and drag him along to his death by his ankles across barbed wire.
Tragic. Best to just hand it over – unless you carry and know exactly what you’re doing, of course.
Retired police officer. I do, I do and I will.
Me too!
Avid hunter quite familiar with firearms, with carry concealed permit. I do, I do, and I will, too!
You’d kill a guy for trying to steal your iPad?!? Well, tough guy, now who’s the bag guy?
Kneecaps?…ah, ok!
I would kill you without a second’s thought if you infringed on my property rights. That would be life altering lesson for you not to steal.
Yep “without a second’s thought” sums up your rational pretty well. An even more accurate way of saying it might be “without a thought” but then why bother—you clearly don’t.
Both phrases become far more interesting mis-spelled. The phrase “without a second’s thought” with the apostrophe makes the period of thought so short there might as well be no thought. While the phrase “without a second thought” means that while there is some contemplation the first resolution permits no reconsideration.
While Kill Bill’s “your rational” could mean you secretly approve of his haste but that you favor a more certain revenge like pre-meditated murder once you re-locate the thief. Although I’m certain Bill meant to say “your rationale” suggesting that BLN’s thought process seemed to have no thought associated with it.
Wouldn’t it have been even funner if Bill had written “you’re rational” when he clearly thought otherwise?
You sad pathetic human being. Stealing is wrong but so is taking someone else’s life without even taking a second’s thought about your own actions and doing something far worse. If your own life was at risk yes self defence is acceptable. Take a long of walk off a short pier you idiot.
To be practical once he decides to shoot he’d have to kill both the thief and his getaway driver in case one left a gun in the car.
Funny how none of you didn’t recognize a the vehicle as a glaring at you as a weapon…no gun was needed to kill this kid.
It’s called Assault With Deadly Weapon Motor Vehicle. A gun could have deterred them. No one really knows what the outcome would have been.
*Funny how none of you didn’t recognize the vehicle glaring at you as a weapon…no gun was needed to kill this kid.
BLN
That’s why you are part of the problem, not the solution.
Life is not valued in the USA, not when you admit you can casually blow away another person “without a second thought” over an inexpensive object. Pretty pathetic actually…
BLN : you’d just end up shooting off your other nut.
Hey ‘Hint’, most of the time one wouldn’t need to pull the trigger. Have you ever looked down the barrel of a .45? It’s a huge gaping hole. The one time I had to pull my weapon (he was 6′ 2″, 220 lbs) he was more than happy to stand there and wait for the cops. He was arrested, spent 10 days in the pokey, lost his job, his girlfriend and his new pick-up. I was glad I didn’t have to pull the trigger, but I was prepared to. I refuse to be a victim. I will not go quietly.
People like @Cinerama are such a big part of the problem…and they don’t even realize it.
Erectile dysfunction – the silent killer.
It’s people like Cinerama that there aren’t more people like Chuck and Hint stealing from innocent boys and girls.
Since Hint and Chuck think guns are the problem did anyone notice that a gun was NOT used in this theft? If a gun was used the boy may still be alive. Here’s another example that a gun would have saved a life.
Those of us who do carry know that drawing your weapon is the last thing you want to be forced to do. Lethal force is warranted only if the victim of a crime feels threatened with death or severe bodily harm, or if another person is threatened in that way. Being robbed at gunpoint or knifepoint would be such a situation. The situation described in this article does not justify the use of lethal force.
And I totally concur. ‘Hint’ just jumped to conclusions. Read my above post.
I feel safer already.
http://news.yahoo.com/hofstra-student-killed-police-during-break-065118864.html
It is always best to give into thugs, bullies and criminals. Make sure that they know that you won’t resist in the slightest so that they will be encouraged to keep on doing it to us all. This is the true path to a total secure society. Hogwash!
I respect the youth for fighting back and think he is a hero and the scum who did it to him should be found and whipped severely in public near where they did the crime.
Your first paragraph almost caught me hook, line and sinker.
As a long time lurker I rarely agree with you. This time however, you are 100% correct. The young man choose NOT to a easy (pu$$y) victim and paid the ultimate price for defending what was his (doesn’t matter what the object was).
While true that stuff is stuff and not worth dying over, being free and not being a victim is.
everybody…wake up, tune in, and be aware of your surroundings. i see so many people with their heads buried in the devices crossing streets, standing near subway train doors, driving…(sigh). that young person probably reacted as most of us would in what was likely a slit second, not nearly enough time to realize the fatal consequences of how holding onto a replaceable thing could lead to loss of an irreplaceable one.
you can’t know when your going to be a victim of crime but you can minimize your vulnerability by staying aware of your surroundings in public.
Marcos is dead proving the point that unless you can deter or defeat the criminal it is better not to resist. Exactly what would you have done in his place?
They targeted the kid BECAUSE he couldn’t resist physically at his size (they would have done the same to a smaller woman). So in answer to your question they wouldn’t have targeted me because I outweigh one or both of them.
To get my iPad they’d likely have to present a firearm. Then they would have my iPad and I would photograph their car (assuming they didn’t take my phone, in which case I’d have to take out my old iPhone take another picture and dial 911.
Then again I don’t walk along a road with these sorts of things on display so it would have to be a parking lot or parking structure. If I saw them coming they would have no chance. But they could attack from behind in which case I would clock them when they went for the dropped iPad. Then I would beat feet and wipe the iPad remotely to remove any important data and they would have to sell a broken empty iPad.
Yes. Use a gun. Pew, pew! Yeehaw!
You go ahead and Pew, pew. I promise not to use my gun to defend you.
Pew, pew. A shoot out! Now you’re talkin’!
I am not inclined to “hand it over” unless the situation is clearly stacked against me. If/when concern for safety trumps upholding the law and defending your person and property, then this country is headed in the wrong direction. In my book, that type of capitulation just encourages criminals.
Well since some of us live in “progressive, enlightened” areas where gun ownership is verboten unless you willing to pay for your criminal defense. However surprise surprise, I can legally carry a knife. I prefer carrying this oldy but goody, a Fairbairn/Applegate Combat Folder. Just keep in mind if one is squeamish at the sight of blood, then a stun gun or even pepper spray will suffice. Just waiting the day our enlighten legislature will think the aforementioned items will be considered “weapons” that only gangs use on innocent victims.
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Gerber-ApplegateFairbairn–5535
Sorry for his family…
This is not the first incident where an Apple product resulted in the death due to some human debris out there. Didn’t Steve Jobs pay for a funeral for another child’s death over an iPod?
I wish Apple could engineer and implement a password voice command that would activate an electric current to shock the living Hell out of some perp that they couldn’t hold onto the device as well! But since they don’t, I guess it’s up to the law enforcement and the courts to handle him and in the end have ole Sparky throw some electricity through him!
RIP Marcos…
new iPad with electro-shock…$1500.
not a solution.
everyone here is putting the onus on everyone but the user/owner
all things being status quo, bad people will do bad things. wake up, tune in, be aware.
The Apple product did not cause anyone’s death. The scumbag criminal did.
To prevent such tragedies in the future, I will be introducing legislation next week which bans the future sale, transfer, or possession of all iPad type devise. If we can prevent even one senseless death in the future with this legislation, I’m in favor of it.
ha! i wish this sounded more far-fetched. so like politicians and government to attack problems from the wrong end with sweeping stupidity.
sorta like affirmative action.
“sorry most-qualified person, we’ve not met our veteran, minority or handicapped quotas yet”
But only the black ones with the pistol grips or bayonet holders.
Track the device via SN and GPS? And anyone who buys Macs on the street must know they are hot. No market, no stealing.
Police ask that anyone with information contact Metro’s homicide section at 828-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or online at crimestoppersofnv.com.
Let’s see how long it takes some to blame the iPad.
That will be the NYT.
Pravda with Restaurant Reviews.
About the same amount of time it takes someone to blame the gun!
I was robbed less than 2 years ago.
3 kids took my iPad(with 3G), iPod nano(the watch gen), and touch.
They hit me not so well but I told them to just take everything. Little did they know, I had the 3G and Find my iOS on. I have my iCloud login to police and they happened to have an iPhone with them. I was amazed how the blue dot keep on moving on the maps. A few minutes later, police called and recovered all devices and the kids got questioned.:)
It happened at night. The area had only one room with their lights on so they figured it could be them. Police knocked the door and a mother answered. Police asked if their son just got home and she said yes. They went to the room and voila the iPad was in there haha. He then showed them where the other two kids were.
I know it was stupid to carry all those devices…but at least I thought fast.
It’s not stupid to carry your devices. It’s stupid for morons to try and steal them. You shouldn’t have to be afraid.
Exactly.
A few police sting operations (using Find My iDevice and with news media coverage) aimed at these sort of thefts would quickly spread the word that only idiots steal Apple devices.
Imagine watching TV when the local news interrupts to show a sting going down in real time. Along with the police, viewers at home follow the perps pulsing-blue-dot trail right to their doorstep. Heck, I’d pay money to watch it happen.
That poor young boy how awful. Nothing is important when it comes to your life and an iPad , iPhone or whatever device you have is worthless compared to one’s self. The devil that did this horrific act should be punished by unmentionable means. I go to bed feeling furious over this senseless act.
In hindsight, of course, you are correct. If he knew that he was going to die by resisting, then he would have let it go.
However, per my post above, I do not believe that passivity is the right answer for our society. It encourages lawbreakers and makes them bolder and more brazen. The two thieves caused this young man’s death, and I sincerely hope that they are caught and tried for murder.
If the perp’s hands were full of iPad it sounds like a good time to push HIM into the street. But startled people don’t react well without training.
In some existential sense, I agree with you. But our first goal as individuals must be self-preservation. The kid wasn’t in the business of taking action to keep safer society, he just wanted to keep his iPad. I also hope they are caught and prosecuted. They are murderers.
And, not to focus too much on street thuggery, we need to not be passive toward the biggest criminals, the ones who do their stealing with a pen. An unregulated polluter or bankster is truly to be feared.
If I was taken by surprise from the side or behind, the guy would have a cracked skull and need knee surgery. If he came up to me calmly and had a gun or knife and sternly asked me to hand over the iPad, he’d have an iPad with tracking turned on and the police would be called.
Criminals should get capital punishment. Case closed. The forgiving leftists are always left alone by the tugs. Go figure.
Not to make light over the tragedy, but maybe a new TV program should be spawned to bring awareness that stealing iPads are wrong.
The new show can be called “baitPad”.
Stupid motherfucker should of gave up the ipad
All the vigilante bravado is understandable, but better that this SOB get caught by the police, that he be tried and found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and put to death by the state. No bleeding heart bullshit, one way or the other, just cold, clean justice.
Rest in peace my young friend, and one way or the other we will see that justice is done.
That is just terrible.