Armed gunmen with a taste for Apple-branded merchandise burglarized an Apple store in Paris, France. The purportedly well-planned heist, which occurred on News Year's Eve, is thought to have net thieves more than 1.3 million dollars worth of ill-gotten iPhones, iPads and other Mac-related goods.
According to The Telegraph, the masked robbers made their move at 9:00 PM on December 31, just as a custodian exited the rear of the building after finishing his or her nightly duties. The janitor was "lightly injured" during the operation. It's believe there were about four to five men involved in the heist.
Once they were in, the thieves ignored on-display merchandise and went straight for the stock room, pillaging only brand new equipment still sealed in their respective boxes. They loaded up their spoils onto a nearby truck and made a successful escape around 9:40 PM, which means the store sacking took about 40 minutes from start to finish.
The timing of the heist may have been particularly opportune for thieves, as police officials were perhaps busier than most days due to the added chaos of New Year's celebrations across Paris. "Since the essential bulk of police forces were mobilised to patrol the Champs-Elysées, the thieves clearly profited from the opportunity to make their move" said Christophe Crépin, a French police union spokesman. However, a Paris-based police source assured The Telegraph there was no shortage of police during this time.
The exact amount stolen is still being tabulated by employees at the time of this writing, but initial reports peg the total somewhere around $1.3 million.