“Just minutes after buying an iPhone 6, thieves attack a man in Towson,” Jessica Kartalija reports for CBS Baltimore. “He camped out all night to get his hands on the new phone.
‘I was like I have to get it; I was like I have to have the 6 Plus,’ said Braden Myers. ‘I wanted the Plus, too.'”
“But Myers never imagined that within minutes of buying one at Towson Town Center… ‘A fist straight across my face into my jaw, knocking me down on the ground. And then him grabbing my phone and trying to rip it out of my hand. I held onto it with all my might,’ Myers said,” Kartalija reports. “It happened in broad daylight. When people ran to help, the thieves took off.”
“Myers was lucky. Last year, more than 1.5 million Americans had their smartphones stolen – many of the thefts were violent,” Kartalija reports. “Police say it’s always a good idea to stay alert, and, if possible, walk around with your cell phone in a purse or your pocket.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yeah, he was lucky. He only got assaulted. Just a fist to the jaw.
Ah, the insidiousness of diminished expectations.
So, law-abiding citizens, don’t use your iPhone in public, just hide it away and cower in fear, because our society is broken to the point that the so-called authorities cannot or will not properly address the root issues that force law-abiding taxpaying citizens to have their unalienable right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness violated.
Criminals who assault others and attempt to steal their property should be hit with responses that strongly dissuade them from even contemplating, much less committing such crimes in the future.
Authorities who suggest that law-abiding citizens curtail what is perfectly acceptable behavior — such as using an electronic device, or wearing a watch, or carrying a purse, or walking in new sneakers in public — in order to avoid being assaulted in broad daylight need to take a huge step back and, for a change, consider the forest for the trees. “By using your iPhone in public, he asked to be assaulted” is the equivalent of saying “by dressing like that, she asked to be raped.”
The authorities have, in many cases, simply given up. Law-abiding taxpayers should demand more. Much more.
Yes, an iPhone “kill switch” is nice. Yes, it even protects iPhone users from those criminals who happen to know that Activation Lock exists. Criminals who don’t, well, good luck with that. Activation Lock is a bandaid trying to cover over cancer. It does nothing to mitigate the root causes of crime. The criminals will simply steal something else in order to feed their illegal drug habits or whatever caused them to commit a crime by assaulting/robbing someone.
iPhone thefts generate press. District attorneys, attorneys general, and state senators don’t like that kind of press. It’s not conducive to their job security. Transferring the crime from iPhones to pickpocketing, purse snatchings, etc. doesn’t generate the same press. Hence the calls for “smartphone kill switches” in election/appointment years.
Impinging the rights of citizens in order to “reduce” (read: transfer and hide) crime is wrong. Impinge the criminals to the point where crime is actually reduced and people who are supposed to be free can freely use their property in public.
Related articles:
A.G. Schneiderman, D.A. Gascón commend Apple’s new iOS 8 for enabling ‘kill switch’ by default – September 17, 2014
California Senate passes mandatory smartphone ‘kill switch’ bill – May 9, 2014
Will Apple’s ‘kill switch’ tamp down iPhone thefts? – May 4, 2014
San Francisco District Attorney to Apple: Enable Activation Lock on every iPhone by default – December 18, 2013
Attorneys General for New York and San Francisco strongly urge iPhone and iPad users to download iOS 7 – September 19, 2013
S.F. district attorney optimistic over Apple, Samsung progress on anti-theft tech for smartphones – July 23, 2013
U.S. State and federal governments test Apple’s iOS 7 activation lock feature – July 18, 2013
U.S. officials call on Apple, other mobile device makers to help stop smartphone theft – June 6, 2013
The New York Times tries to blame Apple for smartphone thefts – May 2, 2013
It is Baltimore, after all }:-/
“Ah, the insidiousness of diminished expectations.” – MacDailyNews
This just shows you what thieves will have to do now that iPhones have a kill switch. Steal the phone just after its bought and before the victim has a chance to input their apple ID
Wait, just hold on, this attempted robbery was in America.
Why didn’t the typical American iPhone owner just pull out his Glock and shoot the bastard?
After all it is America for Christ sakes.
Probably because he was in a friggin’ “gun free zone” where the criminals can carry whatever they want and law abiding citizens go unarmed. Of course a pussy like you would just smack ’em with your purse.
Guns are for cowards
Heh, heh, heh… >8-)
Are you referring to criminals with guns or law abiding citizens practicing their constitutional right?
I doubt if anyone in the U.S. military or law enforcement appreciates your opinion. Unless you mean it’s okay for THEM to be armed but not the citizenry?
Because Baltimore is one of those places in America where the 2nd Amendment doesn’t apply. How many people in Baltimore have a concealed carry permit? (Hint: try “Almost zero.”)
Here in the Pacific Northwest, where about 5% of the population has a Concealed Handgun License (CHL), thieves are a bit more circumspect and timid. When about 2 to 4 people on every bus, in every busy restaurant, and in every night club will statistically be armed it makes for a very polite society.
“Criminals who assault others and attempt to steal their property should be hit with responses that strongly dissuade them from even contemplating, much less committing such crimes in the future.”
If there is a bullet hole between your eyes that’s a huge deterrent to future criminal activity.
Not to mention Open Carry.
Criminals see the person OC’ing and assume they are a cop, and leave the area. A firearm doesn’t have to be used to deter crime 🙂
Almost every store that has been robbed… has a no guns sign on it.
A bank robber was targeting 2 certain bank chains here a few years back, when they caught him.. he confessed they were easy targets cause he didn’t have to worry about the customers pulling a gun on him. (The 2 banks are big on anti-gun crap) Yet the larger banks here are untouched, and 1 even publicly stated they have no problem with OC in the bank.
(For those that may freak out cause you don’t know.. Banks are not protected areas where firearms can’t be carried. No law State or Federal prohibits them, the *Bank* can say they do not want a firearm inside by placing a sign *clearly* visible on each door. And all the bank can do is ask you to leave, refuse to leave.. then you break the law)
It may not work, because in my case, my phone already had my phone number and I needed my billing zip code and the last 4 of my social security to unlock it.
No – it was in Baltimore County – Towson is north of Baltimore in Baltimore County. You need to get your geography straight before making comments!
Cut of his hand! Hang ‘m High!
Impinging the rights of citizens? Since when is the state responsible for preventing you from ever being offended in any way, shape or form? In a land where your right to own a gun is enshrined in the constitution but your right to work, live peacefully, live safely is not, WTF do you expect?
And WTF rock do you live under? Baltimore, and the state of Maryland are two of the least gun friendly government entities in the US. This kind of crap happens there precisely because people are not allowed to defend themselves with firearms in those locations. It’s the same in Chicago and Washington DC/
Here, here, Zeke. Dim bulbs with talking points not thought through. Gee, what a surprise …
Cops are very busy supressing free speech with tanks right now. No time for actual criminals.
“…Ah, the insidiousness of diminished expectations…”
Only scratches the surface.
You are right . Cops are being used to pursue political goals .
What do you think the military is for?
The military has had that role also . The cops not so much until recently .
BS!
“What do you think the military is for?”
To act as ‘Doctors without Borders’ thanks to CiC Obama., He’ll stop Ebola, but ISIS, forget about it says “Bootsie”.
You do not appear very well educated either, same as the above dude.
Kind of makes you wonder what the term “Police State” looks like up close, doesn’t it?
Red China, Red Vietnam, Red Rusdia to name a few.
…Ferguson, Missouri.
That’s B-mo
FWIW, I was at the Towson Town Center when this went down and there were police EVERYWHERE and K-9 and a Helicopter overhead AND best of all, they caught both of the deadbeats that attempted this robbery in a relatively short amount of time.
But the MDN take is still very true, as they will likely stand before a judge, get a finger wagging and a plea deal and be back out doing it agian.
What should the punishment for punching somebody in the face be then? Ten years in prison? Execution?
That would be the job of the district attorneys, attorneys general, and state senators whose jobs we finance via our tax monies.
The punishment should be, as MDN wrote so clearly, something that “strongly dissuade them from even contemplating, much less committing such crimes in the future.”
Otherwise, why bother? It’s just a waste of everyone’s time as it is now.
Remember the iPad thief Brandon Darnell Smith? This scum was caught on tape grabbing the bag and pulling half the flesh off his victim’s little finger and THEN showed he had the brains of a slime mold and asked a buddy to kill the victim because “If you do this, case is dropped. NO WITNESS,”.
He got the maximum sentence, 25 years.
Give these, and all violent offenders the maximum and see if that helps.
“Give these, and all violent offenders the maximum and see if that helps.”
Won’t help. They can’t read and can’t steal TVs to watch the news because they won’t fit in their pants.
“assault with intent to commit robbery” deserve harsh treatment. This is not to say other crimes are less important or this is important because it involved an iPhone. Far from it, all crimes that involves assault with or without weapon should be dealt with forcefully.
What we allow (or do not take seriously) we teach. Again, this is not to diminish the larger problem with the society where multi-billion dollar convicted criminals go to white collar jails and politicians and those with big pockets getting away with so much.
If you are in the NFL the punishment is pretty much nothing. Even Ray Rice has been promised a job with his team if the ban on playing is upheld. And in the Ray McDonald case the Niners are assuming his fiancee cut and bruised herself. There are many different penalties for assault, best deal if you are wealthy and famous.
Seems to me this was a premeditated act, possibly they were laying in wait. Violence like this should receive very severe punishment. A bit more than simply punching someone, which in my opinion is also a serious act.
Don’t need to put these opportunistic scumbags in prison. I’m for putting them on a good ol’ fashioned “chain gain” of sorts – make em’ work performing manual labor for the county.
I need to correct, my previous statement. They actually only caught one. The other got away, but just a matter of time considering they ahve his buddy in crime.
Wow! I bought my imac from that store.
Splitting hairs I know, but Towson is outside of Bawlmer.
Well if you think about these thieves might have known they needed to get their hands on new iPhones before they are linked to an owner (which it may have been already.) otherwise it’d be useless after that point. So yeah, people buying new iPhones from a store beware and be on the alert walking out of that store. Don’t be distracted from your surroundings fiddling around with your new purchase.
And Apple shouldn’t put purchases any longer in bags with their logo emblazoned on them. It broadcasts to thieves all too clearly “Come and get me.” Sad it’s come down to that. (Or buyers just need to carry their own generic non-identifying bags.)
Read the Take, Mr. Bandaid.
Impinging the rights of citizens in order to “reduce” (read: transfer and hide) crime is wrong. Impinge the criminals to the point where crime is actually reduced and people who are supposed to be free can freely use their property in public.
That’s a nice thought but until we get to that Kumbaya Utopia then protect yourself and be cautious. Seems only prudent.
Thieves seem to be learning the only chance they have to steal an iPhone is at place of purchase from distracted buyers. Don’t be a victim.
You come across like a pragmatist in the best light but in reality, you come across like a gutless coward who would not fight for your rights nor help protect others rights. It is people like you who do nothing in the face of crime and give the criminals the courage to take over our cities.
You come across as a disingenuous, foolhardy, naive leftist soul who thinks all social problems can be solved overnight by golly. So what have YOU done bunkie to change the picture? I suggest not much other than call people the very thing you most live up to. Or maybe you’ve been trying your level best to emulate Biff in BACK TO THE FUTURE as a role model.
Funny how I suggest merely suggest prudent caution under CURRENT social conditions and you come unglued. Grow up.
Oh and while you’re at it please wear your money belt in plain view and take a stroll somewhere down in South Central Los Angeles. I’d give good money to see you get your proper ‘tude and reality correction.
When I buy my new iPhone, I will dangle it out in public in a very obvious way and dare and criminal to try to take it. I don’t advocate carrying a gun not have I ever owned a gun but I will still decimate anyone who tries to take my property.
You probably think that women who wear nice clothes are ‘asking to get raped’.
I have other means for protecting myself.
Body odor doesn’t count. (Just kidding.)
Yes, the criminal is Apple for advertising with their distinctive bags. How dare a company make nice things and sell them to honest law abiding people. People who buy iPhone should hide their purchases and just give them to anyone who comes up to take them. We all need to live in poverty and never enjoy our hard earned money because someone might see us and want to take it away.
Perhaps you envision a world where no quality items are sold out in the open and people should live in concrete bunkers with bars on the doors. Then criminals can roam freely and take what ever they can get from citizens who dare to use it in public. The citizens are the guilty ones and criminals should be cowered before.
Wow. The only bag you’re carrying has a big nut in it.
I envision a world where’s there are no idiots who espouse the creation of a Utopian crime-free future that’s not likely to happen nor do a darn thing to make it happen. And then conveniently forget humans live on this planet of all shapes, sizes, mental health issues, drug dependencies and socio-economic status, not to mention cultural ands religious differences.
Maybe in couple hundred years we’ll achieve those things. In the meantime it’s wise to be expedient and not be a victim. You can be the first though to step up and volunteer all of your wealth to help the cause along.
Some of us are not sheep, but sheepdogs.
I think Apple should encourage people to activate their iPhones in the store before leaving with them
Alttus – very sensible as long as the crooks know that’s being done and stealing one will only result in holding a useless tech brick. Their only hope then is to sell to another sucker who doesn’t know that – fast.
I carry the Apple bag proudly, but also wear my NRA t-shirt, with large print front and back, and my 357 in my waistband. Come on thieves, I’m ready…
Thanks to Apple Fanboy for his iUpdate. That too is the Apple Store I frequent. Save for a few more months until I can upgrade my 5 at the subsidized discount, I’d have been there too.
And shame on Jooop for his/her cavalier attitude toward physical violence and to those who disparage Baltimore. As we all know, we are the epicenter of a huge debate about physical violence toward women. While it certainly is completely unacceptable to violently put your hands on a woman for any reason, it’s a shame the dialogue has not expanded to general human on human violence. Its stupidity and its unacceptability in general.
We are a species that can invent and create a wonderful device like the iPhone 6, but we can’t seem to evolve past our idiotic primal urges.
Shameful.
The real shame is that women in Baltimore are not allowed to protect themselves from physical abusers with handguns.
Open and concealed carry. More Guns, Less Crime.
Why let the facts get in the way of a simplistic solution?
The US of A has the highest gun ownership in the world.
The US of A has the highest percentage of its population in prison.
The US of A has the highest rate of gun deaths in the world.
The US of A has the highest rate of family members being killed by their own guns in the world.
Are guns a solution or are they the problem? Look to Canada and check out their statistics.
Look at Chicago, which in 1982 passed a ban on all handguns except for those registered with the city before the ban was enacted. Since the handgun ban took effect, the number of murders in Chicago committed using handguns has been 40% higher than before the ban, and has spiked even higher in recent years. The gun ban actually served to cause an increase in violent crime.
Despite the fact that it is virtually impossible for an average citizen to obtain a gun through legal channels in Britain, the rate of violent crime in the UK is higher per capita than the US and the highest in the world amongst “rich” countries aside from Australia, which also instituted a draconian gun ban in the 1990′s.
Preventing law-abiding people from owning guns clearly has no impact on violent crime, and if anything causes it to rise because the criminals know their victims will not be able to defend themselves.
Update: Chicago police report that the murder rate for the first quarter of 2014 is the lowest it’s been in more than 50 years.
A concealed carry law was passed in Illinois last year.
The first three months of 2014 have seen the fewest number of homicides since 1958 — six fewer than this time in 2013, and 55 fewer than this time in 2012, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The city’s homicide rate has plummeted to a 56-year low since the concealed-carry law.
http://quincyjournal.com/regional-beat/2014/09/20/one-year-after-concealed-carry,-chicago-homicide-rate-plunges/
So you are saying Americans need to be deported and to populate America with Canadians?
I guarantee that if you move the entire US of A population up to Canada, you’d still have highest percentage of its population in prison, highest rate of gun deaths in the world by means other then guns, and highest rate of family members being killed by their own in the world.
And England, with NO guns has the highest violent crime rate in Europe, four times that of the US. The FACT is that violent crime rates decrease where gun ownership increases in the US. The highest crime rates and the most gun deaths happen in places like Chicago, DC, and Baltimore, where it’s nearly impossible to own a gun legally.
You have offered NO verifiable facts or links to support your opinions.
Just how do you count gun ownership in rogue nations buying tons on the black market like Americans buy wings and beer at the corner store before a football game?
You don’t. In many countries bombs also kill many more people than guns — see terrorists and ISIS.
Bogus political talking points — nothing more.
In self defense courses, it’s quite common to teach…
The solution to a good defense, is to examine your situation and use common sense to avoid trouble in the first place. IE Stay away from dark alleys, etc.
Now with that said, MDN is very correct. You should feel save in a public shopping area, from the store to your car, and off the property.
This is a failure of mall security and I think, not only should the perps be punished justly, but the Mall should be held accountable for this event. If Apple needed to provide additional funds for security, so be it. If you make insanely great and as such desirable products, then please help make a safe environment during it’s acquisition.
Um, no. The mall had security. There were, by report above, police everywhere. Some criminals are desperate, and some are just stupid enough to think they can still get away with it. Odds are that iPhone had already been activated and personalized in the store – the idiots trying to steal it probably didn’t know about the kill switch or ‘find my phone’. It isn’t possible to prevent all crime just by a show of law enforcement, and the mall still has to make money (and therefore can’t hire security to stand next to each customer from their store to the car and off the property).
To your other point – that’s more valid. What you’re saying is Apple should only provide their highly desirable products on-line, and people should only shop in stores that have nothing worth stealing. At least, that’s what it sounded like you meant.
My point was related to, if this person was attacked, then maybe there wasn’t enough security. With a reasonable attempt to secure, anything is possible.
I was not advocating only online sales for the launch. There will always be opening day at the stores.
An alternative, is a soft launch. But then you don’t have the media frenzy. Apple does love the media hype. Why else participate in all the drama?
Everyone plays the part.
Actions to reduce violence:
1. Add more security (Mall & Apple – not judging reasonable)
2. Behave differently (Customer chooses different safer actions)
3. Promote less (The less people know the less frenzy at launch)
Each of these items will change the out come. There is no right or wrong. Er – There is only one wrong, the thug, who couldn’t control themselves. Let’s use driving as an example. How are you supposed to drive? How are we taught? Drive defensively, because we can’t control the other driver. To prevent a mugging, you are only in control of yourself. Given everything else is in place, including laws, and a safe environment, then what’s left is do something about yourself.
In New York City, the correlation between the introduction of iOS with Activation Lock, and drop in robberies (especially these types, with an assault) is very clear. And no, statistically, this crime did NOT shift elsewhere (otherwise, we would have noticed a spike somewhere else, or at least no change in robberies, with criminals switching away from “Apple picking” to something else).
With respect to the “kill switch”, MDN’s take is WRONG. Kill switch is not a bandaid to a cancer. It is a cure to a small infection. It is not a cure for cancer (nor is it expected to be), but it clearly reduces overall crime by dissuading latent criminals from becoming actual criminals. Apple picking was so easy, it generated new breed of low-level criminals. Activation lock simply reduced their numbers.
There are very many ways to fight crime. One of them is to impose stiff punishments for criminals (American jails are already full, so I’m not sure how that one will work). Another is to elevate the barrier to entry — make it more difficult, or less profitable, to steal. For some popular theft targets, that one is much easier. Let us not forget, this approach is precisely the reason why we have fewer car thefts — cars are more difficult to steal.
“They who are good, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands and seize unlawfully the property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be.”
“more punishment” and “more guns” completely ignores the reality that the US already have WAY more people in jail and astronomically more guns than any other western nation. Whatever the answer is, that’s not it.
Apple makes leather cases for the iPhone 6/6+. Now they just need to make leather holsters! BYOG.
If any establishment that NEEDED to impose rules abiding FOR guns on customers is a customer visiting an Apple store!
Screw Panera, Starbucks, etc.
Ted Nugent: “If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/09/08/panera-bread-ceo-dont-bring-your-guns-into-our-restaurants/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/21/gun-owners-surrender-starbucks-understand-firearms/?page=all
You should see the mall security guards in the Philippines, they carry fucking M16 assault rifles.
Just so the Starbucks coffee drinkers are aware..
“They did not change [their] policy or stance on guns only asked not to be used as a pawn in this war that we are fighting.”
You can *STILL* carry in a Starbucks, they just would rather the large group of people meeting at starbucks for political reasons.. don’t. (Which I never supported, do you regularly carry your AR or Shotgun? no? then why OC it to a Starbucks? oh.. for Political reasons.. Maybe you should read the law a little better….)
BTW, i’ve never seen a sign on an Apple store telling me I couldn’t carry inside.. and i’ve always carried in them.
I agree with MDN’s take on this. Fuck this shit, police need to do their fucking job and spend their time on scumbag thieves like this instead of wasting time parked on the side of the road pulling people over for going 5 miles an hour over the speed limit. Like you don’t fucking speed when you’re in your personal car after work. Do something that matters. Cops are mostly fucking assholes who like to intimidate good people and avoid real criminals at all costs. I once had my iDevices stolen and the cops talked to me in a firm tone that made me feel like they thought *I* did something wrong. Fuck you.