'Mission Impossible'-Style Best Buy Thieves Swipe Laptops, Baffle Cops
Thursday morning, employees at a Best Buy in South Brunswick walked into the store to find a pile of debris, a hole in the roof, and a bunch of missing laptops. Theft, to be sure -- but how did the plunderers avoid the spider web of alarms? According to Police Sgt. James Ryan, the thieves managed to climb a gas pipe to scale the building, and used some type of suction device to lift a hole in the roof. Ryan speculates that they then lowered themselves through the hole into the store, managing somehow to keep themselves ten feet above the floor at all times, evading the store's motion sensors. They even kept behind store banners throughout the operation, thus shielding their faces from security cameras. Upon swiping $26,000 worth of Apple laptops, they scurried out the same way they'd come in.
Needless to say, police and experts are impressed. As security and burglary consultant John Harris tells The Star-Ledger, "I would say they were a professional crew... I've never dealt with anything like this." South Brunswick police, of course, have their work cut out for them as they try to nab the bandits. They're pretty confident, though, that whoever pulled this off must have had some pretty intimate knowledge of the store's security parameters. Whether or not the mission was appropriately scored, however, remains a mystery. [From: The Star-Ledger and Boston Herald, via: CNET]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
andi said 11:11AM on 3-05-2010
Pretty Crazy, it just goes to show ya that movies aren't just for entertainment anymore.
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Wish Belkin said 10:27AM on 3-06-2010
This was a pretty big opperation for twenty six grand worth of laptops.
No doubt this was a test drive. The big score is coming.
tom said 2:30PM on 3-05-2010
"Pretty Crazy, it just goes to show ya that movies aren't just for entertainment anymore."
Yeah, that's what the news is for - entertainment.
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james said 3:10PM on 3-05-2010
I wish I was on that crew :)
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Nik said 7:10AM on 3-06-2010
Ummm.... not all that impressive.$26k in laptops? Unless they are going to use them to pull off some high tech scheme. Now, that would be impressive.
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offcrgentleman said 8:31AM on 3-06-2010
Quickly! Close out this web page, before it self-destructs!!!
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keith said 7:24AM on 3-06-2010
They only took apple computers? Let the punishment fit the crime. Apple has been ripping off people for years.
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glaurieglaurieHALLELUJAH said 7:23AM on 3-06-2010
all of your thoughts are stupid ... a crime has taken place which in turn leads to higher prices for the law abiding people ... personally I hope that the authorities do find them and they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law
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Tom said 7:50AM on 3-06-2010
Seems like a lot of work and risk for all they got.
With their knowledge of the security system, my guess would be a disgruntled, technically-saavy employee.
Questions: How did they stay 10 feet above the floor and still reach the laptops?
Why didn't the falling debris set off the motion detectors?
Bad security system, or poor reporting in this article?
The thieves obviously have a superiority complex or smart-alec attitude if they hid behind banners rather than wearing ski masks to hide their faces.
All too curious.
Perhaps it was all orchestrated by the store manager to cover loss in sales or embezzlement.
I'd assume the authorities are monitoring the local papers, eBay, and Craig's list for ads of Apples for sale.
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Hello Victoria said 8:01AM on 3-06-2010
This takes shoplifting to a whole other level!
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Bill said 8:11AM on 3-06-2010
How it works like this, the alarm is turned off, a hole cut in the roof to make it
look like the perps went through the roof, then when they are done, they turn the alarm back on. I would say an inside job.
I don't know any place that keeps 26 grand worth of laps on the showroom floor...
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marcanewman1 said 8:39AM on 3-06-2010
Sorry - when alarms are turned off / on it activates an alarm immediately.
terran said 9:29AM on 3-06-2010
best buy keeps their laptops in a cage above the floor this is not first time this has happened. They did the same thing phoenix before at a best buy
jojo said 9:02AM on 3-06-2010
i always found it amazing how they go into such detail about crime scenes as if to say this is how to do it .
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richmarg12 said 9:09AM on 3-06-2010
personally, I think it's a scam..
Maybe tp promote an upcoming MI movie in the works (?)
Best Buy keeps there products 10 feet off the ground?
How are consumers supposed to veiw them?
Use a ladder?
C'mon
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Kemara said 9:41AM on 3-06-2010
For Best Buy, they have the shelves that are higher up along the walls. They are kind of like a cage and probably about 15' in the air. So depending on where they went through, they could've just hung out by the wall which would be easy to hide behind and just kind of cling to the cages. But then there would have to be cut cages to get the laptops out or a broken lock(or they're just that good).
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vanwags03 said 10:07AM on 3-06-2010
Great job guys. Now if you just give those laptops to kids that need them you will be todays Robin Hood.
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artprncss6 said 10:16AM on 3-06-2010
So obviously we all see a flaw in this. It was an inside job I believe. They found the pile of debri on the floor but the alarms were never set off. Best buy has something behind this that just doesn't sound right. It all sounds off.
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Kelly said 10:31AM on 3-06-2010
Pretty cool. I think Best Buy can afford a little loss like that in order to provide us with an entertaining story about some smart dudes that pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.
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Wayne said 11:26AM on 3-06-2010
There's nothing like a good heist, as long as nobody gets huts anyway. I just hope they get away with it.
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