It’s easier than you’d think to walk out of an Apple Store with merchandise you haven’t paid for… For awhile at least. Rex Chapman, ex-NBA player, was arrested recently by Scottsdale Arizona police on felony charges of theft and trafficking in stolen property.
Arizona police say Chapman, who formerly played for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, (Scottsdale is a suburb of Phoenix), made off with over $14,000 worth of merchandise from the Scottsdale, AZ Apple Store.
As seen in the above video, Chapman would “browse” around the store, take items from the shelf, and pretend to pay for them via Apple’s self-serve Easy Pay system. The 12-year NBA veteran would then place the item(s) in a white Apple sales bag and walk out with the item(s). Chapman would then fence the emrchandise via local pawnshops.
Chapman is now facing nine counts of Organized Retail Theft and five counts of Trafficking in Stolen Property, all of which are felonies.
I worked in the Scottsdale, AZ Apple Store pre-self-checkout, and it was difficult enough to watch for thieves then, I can imagine how hard it must be to police the stores now, with self-checkout in use…
