Berlin - Thieves crashed a stolen car through an Apple Inc. shop window in Berlin early this morning, escaping with laptops, iPads and iPhones in two other vehicles, police said.
It was the seventh break-in of its kind in the city this year.
“These are not amateurs,” Berlin police department spokesman Thomas Neuendorf said by telephone. “We suspect that we’re dealing with a gang.”
A stolen Opel Corsa was used to smash the Apple store window and the thieves escaped in two Audis, Neuendorf said. On Dec. 9, thieves drove into Berlin’s Alexa shopping mall and took about 100,000 euros ($137,000) of electronics.
Apple’s only Berlin store, located on the city’s longest shopping avenue, Kurfuerstendamm, opened in May after more than two years of planning.
No one at Apple was immediately available to comment.
Shops in Berlin have taken extra precautions to secure their merchandise since the break-ins began, Neuendorf said. Apple managers had locked away their inventory overnight, which means the thieves were only able to take 20 display pieces, he said. - Bloomberg