Robbers Targeting iPhones, iPods Near Venice Beach
VENICE (CBS) — Police warned people in Venice to protect their Apples following a recent rash of robberies where thieves targeted iPhones, iPods and other Apple products.
"We've seen an uptick in a couple of robberies in the Venice Beach area where the target was iPods and iPhones," said LAPD Sergeant Jon Peters.
The LAPD had responded to three thefts in Venice in the past week.
One of the robberies, which took place on Sunset Court, even got physical.
Police said that earbud headphones seem to be the common denominator. They said that what is in your ears may be tipping off thieves to what is in your pocket.
"This is a trend that we're not only seeing here in Pacific Division, but city wide as it goes, specifically the Apple products seem to be high in demand. So we see those being taken," Peters said.
Craigslist is full of second-hand Apple products and police said they believe that some are definitely stolen.
The major wireless carriers have agreed to build a registry that would allow them to track and ban service to stolen devices.
But for now, the LAPD warned that if you value what is on your Apple products, then enable the GPS on your device.
"We had an arrest that was related to one of the Venice Beach robberies, where three suspects were taken into custody about a mile and a half away from the scene and that was because we had the ability to track the phone," Peters said.
If your particular model does not have the tracking feature, there is an app for that called "Find My iPhone".
To enable GPS, go to "Settings" and make sure "Location Services" is turned on.
