back to article Baby-boulder bowling burglar breaks Boulder Apple Store's $100k glass door

An intruder stole Apple kit worth over $60,000 from the Apple Store in Boulder, Colorado, but caused more financial damage by breaking the door, reports ABC News Denver. The custom-made glass door of the Apple Store on 29th Street in Boulder cost $100K. The Apple burglar - described by cops as a hooded man armed with three …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    For $100k, you would have thought 'unbreakable' would have been somewhere in the specifications...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yes because you can get glass that is completely unbreakable <doh>. Even bandit / laminated glass would have been 'broken' / severely damaged and need replacement and of course depends how determined the crook was - resists stones - maybe, gun shots - possibly - 2 ton SUV being driven at it - ??

    2. LarsG

      The thief was then caught two days later with the stolen goods courtesy of the find my phone app and serial number registration.

      Microsoft commented, 'luckily we don't suffer these kind of smash and grab raids'.

      Read into that comment what you will.

      1. sabroni Silver badge

        Read into that comment what you will.

        Fanbois will do anything to try and deflect criticism from Apple onto MS? Even when the criticism is as ridiculous as "their glass doors are breakable" and MS has no relation to the story whatsoever?

        1. Jo 5
          Devil

          Re: Read into that comment what you will.

          MS deserves all the criticism we can throw at it. They are pure evil.

          1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
            FAIL

            Re: Pure Evil

            Oh, come on. A software company is "Pure Evil"? Really?

            Jo, you have either led a very sheltered life, or you are clinically insane. Either way, we're not really interested in what you have to say.

            GJC

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Pure Evil

              @Geoff Campbell - I think it was meant as a joke

              1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
                WTF?

                Re: Pure Evil

                A joke, you say? Did I perhaps miss the punchline?

                GJC

          2. Ted Treen
            Boffin

            Re: Read into that comment what you will.

            Yes, I'm a Mac user, but Microsoft "pure evil"?

            Might I refer you to Hanlon's razor? - ""Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

          3. Euripides Pants

            Re: Read into that comment what you will.

            No, just clueless and ham-handed with a chair shortage thrown in.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Read into that comment what you will.

          So how many shops have magic glass that cannot be broken - or at least damaged so badly as to require repair. Just depends what you hit it with - ram raid?

          1. Oninoshiko
            Trollface

            Magic glass

            There is a local plastic fabricator who won't say his windows are unbreakable, but is willing give anyone a shot at it with a sledge hammer.

            He is not willing to pay for any hospital costs from said hammer bouncing off the window and hitting you.

        3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: Read into that comment what you will.

          As the great Nelson Muntz commented, Ah Ah -

          http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/microsoft-campus-hit-by-thieves-only-ipads-stolen

      2. dajames
        Trollface

        Read into that comment what you will.

        Microsoft commented, 'luckily we don't suffer these kind of smash and grab raids'.

        That it's much easier to break Windows, perhaps?

        1. Fatman

          Re: ...much easier to break Windows, perhaps?

          All you need is a little 'drive-by'......

      3. Derezed
        Thumb Up

        I'm no fanboi...

        ...but I upvoted that. :)

      4. GBE

        MS burgler only took Apple gear

        > Microsoft commented, 'luckily we don't suffer these kind of

        > smash and grab raids'.

        Don't I recall a report from a few months back of a burgler who broke in to Microsofts R&D offices and stole nothing but Apple gear?

    3. Pet Peeve
      WTF?

      I had every window in my house (3 flat), about 30 of them, replaced a few years ago. The whole deal, installation included, was an order of magnitude cheaper than this. I don't think it's possible for a single pane door glass to cost anything near this much.

    4. Psyx
      FAIL

      I thought Apple were wealthy enough not to stoop to insurance fraud.

    5. Jerren
      Joke

      My Guess is "Unbreakable" glass probably cost too much so they went with the slightly less expensive "Insanely great" doors instead...

  2. Rampant Spaniel

    I thought Apple used gorilla glass! That is a pretty fair price for a normal sized door. A friends restaurant just replaced a ~50ft series of sliding glass doors, ~7 ft tall for less than that.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > I thought Apple used gorilla glass!

      Apparently they skimped and bought lower spec macaque glass instead.

  3. Steven Roper
    Gimp

    $100k for a glass door?

    What the fuck is it made of - Waterford Crystal?

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: $100k for a glass door?

      You are missing the point. It is a designer door - part of a copyrighted and trademarked design. You do not expect that to be cheap do you?

      1. JaitcH
        FAIL

        Re: $100k for a glass door?

        This price most likely includes Apple's profit margins - somewhere north of 52% - after all they screw all their customers, why not insurers?

        Perhaps they should also invest in some alarms, as well, something like the < http://burglarbomb.com/ > which fills the protected area with pepper gas spray.

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. Tom 35

        Re: $100k for a glass door?

        Maybe they used the same math the record companies use to get the value of a downloaded MP3.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: $100k for a glass door?

      This is a custom made door of some size. It's about $10k to have all your windows replaced in your house and those are flimsy thin glass and plastic.

      Glass for shops will need to be safer and thicker.

      Shop fittings cost a fortune.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      Re: $100k for a glass door?

      it has rounded corners. Come on, that has to cost

    4. JeffyPooh
      Pint

      Re: $100k for a glass door?

      The glass door itself was only $5,995. The special pentalobe screws to install it cost the other $94,000.

    5. Jim 59

      Re: $100k for a glass door?

      A company that spends 100k on a shop door is destined for a fall.

    6. dssf

      Re: $100k for a glass door?

      Well, THAT's the $64,000 question. (Note: ~$64,000 of kit were stolen...)

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Call that glass fancy?

    This is fancy!

  5. Khaptain Silver badge

    Alternative title

    Apples appliance advertising area atrophied after astounding attack.

    1. FartingHippo
      Headmaster

      Re: Alternative title

      Ahem. Actually: Apple's appliance advertising area atrophied after astounding attack.

      Able assistance for amateur author's apostrophe angst.

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: Alternative title

        Mea culpa, I admit that my alliterative skills exceed my grammatical skills.

        1. Ted Treen
          Pint

          Re: Alternative title

          An illiterate alliterate.

          I like it.

          Have a beer - a beautiful brew bodaciously benefits...

          1. Psyx
            Pint

            Re: Alternative title

            "Have a beer - a beautiful brew bodaciously benefits..."

            Surely you get cider after crushing Apple?

    2. James Pickett

      Re: Alternative title

      Thank you for not using 'alternate title', absent apostrophes notwithstanding...

  6. Scott Earle
    Thumb Down

    Moron thieves

    My step-dad's BMW 635 Csi had its window broken to steal a stereo that probably got the moron who stole it 20 quid for a fix. Fucking idiots, the lot of them.

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: Moron thieves

      Not if they needed the 20 quid for a fix. Fuck sight easier to sell a stereo than a car. Why the fuck should they care how expensive your step dad's car is? I don't.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Moron thieves

      Brand (and certainly make) of car indeed irrelephant: battered decade-old Micra's window will cost 10x more to replace than what you get for a stolen stereo.

      /Heck, our entire car is worth less than the ipad in its glove compartment, replacing any bit of it is uneconomical.

      1. sabroni Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: irrelephant

        Awesome! Unnecessary pachyderm!

    3. Lee D Silver badge

      Re: Moron thieves

      When the thieves have to subtract the cost of their damage from the value of the goods they obtain, whether they get caught or not, they'll stop thieving.

      THEY don't have to pay anything. They are a £20 stereo up. You/your insurers are down much more, and have to fix the damage and protect the car properly. Now who's the idiot?

      That said, I'm guessing you left the front panel on the stereo. Things like that make it inviting even if it's as cheap as chips. Maybe they broke in thinking it was a nicer model than it was (or that you might have left something out) and, once in, took it anyway so it wasn't a total loss.

      Don't leave the radio panel on. Don't leave sat-navs in the car. Don't leave wires trailing out of the cigarettel lighter and disappearing into pockets / storage spaces. Don't invite a theft by even leaving a coat over the back-seat (you know what my dad does every time he leaves something valuable in a car? Drapes something over it so you can't see it). The coat / stereo / sat-nav might be worthless, but it invites them to try, and once they are in, they'll take whatever they can find.

      And if you think a thief is going to spend ten minutes of suspiciously looking into the car to try to determine the model / value of an item rather than just smashing the window and having it anyway, then you're sadly mistaken.

      1. Tom 38

        Re: Moron thieves

        Back in the 90s, one of my mates was always "bigging up", as we called it in those days, his monstrous CD collection - over 4000 CDs, of which he would carry about 400 around in one of those massive CD folders in his car. Parked it one day in a chavvy part of town, didn't hide the CD folder under the seat, came back to find that £4k+ of CDs had just wandered off, along with his passenger window.

        He still bitches about losing his rare ones...

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: Moron thieves

          these days it would be a $4M fine for ripping CDs he owns to MP3

        2. Jim 59

          4000 cds

          Whoa. Ripping that lot would generate about 2.6 Tb of data. Ain't no portable mp3 player that big, not for another 20 years anyway.

          1. Frank Bough
            WTF?

            Re: 4000 cds

            4000 x 0.7 / 10 = 280GB ie about 2 big iPod's worth

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    El reg pay attention. In the real world business buildings are insured.

    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

      Unless they self-insure.

      1. ukgnome

        Depends on if the insurance company would pay out.

        Pay attention @loan - just because you have insurance it doesn't mean they will pay out. Sometimes you (the business) just have to accept the risk, which in this case is fitting a door made out of glass with no protection such as roller door or automated fricken lasers.

        1. Fatman

          RE: Depends on if the insurance company would pay out.

          The first obstacle to a payout would be a policy deductible, and any exclusions. Second, it may not necessarily include replacement coverage, but a standard payout clause.

          Methinks Apple is going to have to bite this one.

    2. Schultz

      Insured ...

      ... that's why the broken door is suddenly worth half the store installation cost.

    3. Alan 6

      Only certain parts of the building will be insured, for instance the retailer I used to work for only insured the bricks & mortar, the shop windows where too expensive to insure.

      Also, the insurer would only cover stock behind the salesfloor in locked areas, any stock on the salesfloor wasn't covered.

      So, a break-in through the glass doors, and stock stolen from displays, and the insurer can sleep safe & sound knowing they won't have to pay out a bean...

  8. Velv
    Flame

    $64k of kit stolen - that's a lot of kit to carry. Somehow "a hooded man armed with three rocks" just doesn't quite cut it.

    Even allowing for Apples inflated prices your talking 20 laptops minimum. Not exactly going to be spotted running down he street with that lot in your arms, are you!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      No, that's 2 top spec iMacs with 2.4Ghz dual cores and 4gb ram, right? They are quite light, so one in each pocket?

      PS, yes, it was a poor joke, downvote at your whim. :D

    2. Psyx
      Joke

      "$64k of kit stolen - that's a lot of kit to carry. Somehow "a hooded man armed with three rocks" just doesn't quite cut it."

      Nah... it's just three of the new Macbooks.

  9. lglethal Silver badge
    Joke

    Humanity, I'm proud!

    After millions of years of evolution, after thousands of years of technological development, its still the rock to which a man turns to when he needs to get the job done...

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OOooh shiny things!

    [grabs rocks]

    [smash!]

    [sound of running]

  11. Callam McMillan
    Joke

    This could be a sport

    Why can I now imagine people attacking Apple shopfronts with rocks on a regular basis. Bankrupt the company through replacing glass doors?

    1. Dale 3
      Pint

      @Bankrupt the company through replacing glass doors

      Apple has over $100 billion in reserves, and about 363 stores worldwide as at January 2012 (apparently). If each door cost $100000 to replace, and you smashed the doors of every store, every day of the year, and they were able to replace them every day too, and they didn't notice this rather obvious pattern of misfortune, and didn't post a few security guards to stop it, it would still take 7.5 years to bankrupt the company. That doesn't take into account additional cash they raise through sales over those 7.5 years.

      That is how much money they have.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yup!

    The door is definately the most worthwhile/valuable item in any Apple store. It actaully has some use. It's certainly not the baubles inside.

  13. Blofeld's Cat
    Coat

    $100k...

    Remember it is the broken door they they have to replace.

    Broken windows would have cost less.

    1. Psyx
      Pint

      Re: $100k...

      "Remember it is the broken door they they have to replace.

      Broken windows would have cost less."

      Yeah: Those hinges and a push-plate easily cost the other $95,000.

  14. LPF
    Thumb Down

    Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

    All the andrioid fanbois and other virgins stiing in their mothers basement sitting in their underware. Gods sake

    whatever happened to proper discussions in this place? :(

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

      You're grasp of literacy atrocious is.

    2. John H Woods Silver badge

      Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

      ... and that's why PC pro discussion threads are so boring. There are plenty of proper discussions here, just not attached to articles like this --- why would there be? There is really nothing to discuss here apart from to take pot shots at Apple and make amusing comments about cavemen and rocks. It's entirely up to you whether to read any given story and, even if you do, whether you proceed to the comments.

    3. Chris007
      WTF?

      Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now... @LPF

      If I could understand a word of the drivel you wrote in that comment I'd have a proper discussion with you.

      1. Lee D Silver badge

        Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now... @LPF

        Anyone else feeling the same drop in the signal-to-noise ratio from that post itself?

        Ironically, moderation would be exactly what would be required to stop that user posting drivel like this post.

    4. Stuart Castle Silver badge

      Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

      When did El Reg ever have proper discussions?

      I've been reading it pretty much since it started (certainly since they start accepting comments) and I can't recall any thread that was what I would consider a proper discussion.

      1. Rukario
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

        Proper discussions? We shall have none of such heresy here!

        (Paris, because, well, Ugandan discussions.)

    5. Psyx
      Facepalm

      Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

      "Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

      All the andrioid fanbois and other virgins stiing in their mothers basement sitting in their underware. Gods sake

      whatever happened to proper discussions in this place? :("

      At least the spellcheck works on Android...

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Its thread likes theses which is why pc pro, moderates all posters now...

      "All the andrioid fanbois and other virgins stiing in their mothers basement sitting in their underware. Gods sake

      whatever happened to proper discussions in this place? :("

      No wonder they're virgins, if they're wearing crockery on their bits.

      (I suspect that the "proper discussions" are taking place in Can Spell Corner, just FYI)

  15. JDX Gold badge

    looks like it will have to cough up $100K for the replacements

    They don't have insurance in America?

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: looks like it will have to cough up $100K for the replacements

      If you have a few hundred stores, it's probably cheaper not to buy insurance. What you'd pay in premiums is probably higher than your total annual damage. It's not as if Apple don't have sufficient spare change on hand to cover the odd £100 broken door.

  16. Dogsauce
    Black Helicopters

    It's 5k for the physical door material, and 95k for the 'image rights' license to make the Apple logo on the door, image rights owned by a subsiduary company in a low-tax jurisdiction and the cost of which can be deducted from taxable profits in the US.

    Have I got that right?

  17. Jo 5
    Facepalm

    gaaahh

    bean-counters said they needed to spend 100k on Windows and they said phuck no buy doors instead.

  18. bag o' spanners
    Boffin

    The rocks were made of skullbustium. Lucky they didn't bring the whole building down. Also, cctv shows a huge green guy with torn clothes stomping away from the crime scene.

  19. GBL Initialiser

    So next time the headline will read "Apple store glass doors nicked in don't-smash and grab"

  20. RyokuMas
    Paris Hilton

    Stupid, really.

    A while back I lived just down the road from an audio place that had a glass front. On each panel, there was a sizable sticker that read:

    "Bomb-proof, ram-raid-proof glass"

    Seriously. It's like waving a red rag at a bull. Put a bunch of shiny targets clearly on display and of course someone's going to have a go. Normally at about the rate of once a month for said audio place (until it went under).

    1. Lee D Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Stupid, really.

      Like all things, the thing that matters is the weakest link in the chain.

      Assume the glass *is* bomb-proof and ram-raid-proof. All that means is that it won't break if you try. But the frame WILL give away. Hell, you could unscrew the damn thing if it came to it. Or just push it through. The glass might be "ram-raid proof", but the brickwork holding it in? Unlikely to be. Hell, you can kick bricks out of a wall if you had enough time, let alone what you can achieve in seconds with a sledgehammer.

      It's a comfort to know something is "ram-raid proof" when it's lying, intact, on top of your stock in front of an empty window frame, I'm sure.

      You don't need to invite trouble, and if you do then you're an idiot, but trouble will find you if you're not careful. In an ideal world, you can walk down the street telling everyone how expensive your new phone is and it not matter. But in the real world, being "ram-raid proof" just makes me think "What have they got inside that needs protection from ram-raiding?" and "what other way would someone get in if they wanted to?".

      Like all things, simple systems make it much easier. DO NOT put stock on display, even behind ram-raid proof glass. Keep it out of sight, lock it away, and don't give customers free reign on it (I would predict you lose more from in-store theft than you do ram-raids, even in the worst part of town). You can't make things impossible to get at but hopefully you can make it slow them down enough for police / yourself to arrive, or have a quick-response security company turn up. Keep cash out of the till and in a safe as much as possible.

      Don't pretend you can stop a crime happening to you. Take appropriate action that, when it does happen, your losses are minimised. God knows what it costs to replace ram-raid proof glass and/or the surrounding brickwork but I imagine it isn't any cheaper than just using normal glass and locking stuff away.

      You can't stop someone breaking into a car, or mugging you. You can't. It's impossible. Cars are tested for a "3-minute" or whatever test, that they can resist someone unfamiliar with the car for that amount of time when it's first sold. Within months, most cars are compromisable within seconds if someone was really interested in doing so. If you are mugged you can't STOP someone taking your things, all your things, no matter how big and strong and skilled you think you are. At worst, they just kill you and walk off with your gear.

      But you can make sure that the car alarm goes off, that they need to break the steering lock, remove the locking device on the gearstick, defeat the immobiliser, or whatever to drive it away and that - in the end - there's nothing of value that they can easily remove before they attract sufficient attention for them to give in. You can make sure that what's in your wallet can be cancelled in a trice (or tracked), that your phone is useless without your PIN code, that your bank cards don't have their PIN's stuck to them, that you aren't carrying a fortune in cash for no reason, that your house keys aren't marked with your address, etc.

      Then, it doesn't matter what happens. In fact, every time someone then breaks into a car or mugs someone and comes away with nothing, they are slightly less likely to have a successful outcome which encourages them to try again (given the risks involved). But you can't STOP it happening.

      1. Frank Bough
        FAIL

        Re: Stupid, really.

        ...and that's why you're not making a fortune selling phones and computers.

  21. James Pickett

    @Lee

    I was going to say something similar, if shorter. Why advertise the stuff when the shop is shut? Turn the lights off and fit reflective film, or perhaps leave them on and replace the kit with, say, bags of apples...

    Temptation is 99% opportunity.

  22. James Pickett
    Coat

    Late thought - if the perps are nicked, will they be charged with scrumping?

    1. Ted Treen
      Coat

      It depends...

      ...the sentence could be "Off with their Coxes, and put them in the care of Granny Smith"...

      I think my need for my coat is probably greater than yours, James.

  23. Peter 26
    Holmes

    Are the Apple doors supplied to their retail chains by Apple Ireland operating in Cayman Islands? If so that would explain the high costs.

  24. TheTrouser
    Windows

    If that was me . . .

    . . . I'd have left behind a single white glove with the Microsoft logo on it

    <evil laugh />

    1. Ted Treen
      Happy

      Re: If that was me . . .

      ...but then there would have to be an office chair in amongst the broken glass, not a rock.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That should read $100k for half a door.

    Only one of the doors wee broken, making it a $200k entry, which is not possible. Even more unlikely is that the local store manager/police would have any knowledge of the cost of the door, unless his brother did the install. If there is any truth to the $100K number, it is for the glass store front, not the door. Architect, former coder.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    $100k for a glass door? Presumably supplied by Apple Store Furnishings (Cayman Islands) Ltd, which coincidentally just happens to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple?

  27. Stevie

    Heh!

    Only Apple could put glass doors on a shop full of desirable electrotat and think it would end well.

    Someone should tell them to Google "Ram Raid" before they fork out for new ones.

    1. ukgnome
      Joke

      Re: Heh!

      Ram Raid = the act of herding sheep illicitly

      * I didn't realise that they had had another iLaunch

  28. The Grump
    Pint

    Bartender !

    be careful with that - it's my $5,000.00 Apple logo beer glass. It's so incredibily fragile, there are only eight undamaged glasses left in the world. Beer tastes so much better out of an Apple logo glass.

    (Disclosure - I'm just kidding. Why are you looking at me like that ? No, it's not real. I made it up. Really ! Stay away, you Apple freaks ! Nooooooo!)

This topic is closed for new posts.