A 15-year-old in Las Vegas dies after the passenger in a car allegedly tries to steal his iPad as he walks down the street. Police say the teen wouldn’t let go of his iPad and was run over.
(Credit: CNET)
It’s a natural instinct to resist if someone tries to steal something out of your hand.
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.
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.
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.
Police have issued descriptions of both the driver and the passenger of the SUV, said to be a white Ford Explorer or Expedition.
This is the latest and most gruesome example of the phenomenon known as “Apple-picking.”
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Though not exclusively confined to Apple devices, there is a nationwide increase in the public theft of gadgets.
Cities such as New York and San Francisco have been particularly vulnerable to such thefts, with some criticizing cell phone manufacturers for not doing enough to prevent them. Indeed, some believe that gadget companies see a stolen phone or tablet as a sales opportunity.
In New York, 14 percent of all crimes last year were iPhone and iPad thefts. In San Francisco, nearly half of all robberies in 2012 involved a cell phone.
Police in San Francisco are even using controversial new methods – posing as thieves themselves – in an attempt to stop stolen iPhone trade at its source.
In regard to the iPad, Las Vegas Metro Police spokesman Bill Cassell told the Las Vegas Sun after the latest incident: “They’re lightweight, portable – you can run and hide with them. It’s about the next best thing to stealing money. “
Police urge those who might be victims not to resist, but to hand over the gadget.
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