Crimeblotter: How Long Island Truck Hijackers Were Caught

An arrest is made in Morgan McSweeney’s stolen iPhone case, a guilty plea in Beyoncé’s stolen music case, and an AirTag helps recover a stolen Lamborghini, all in this week’s Apple Crime Blotter.

The last of an occasional woozad series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.

Apple product thieves arrested after activating stolen Apple Watch

On May 7, the Justice Department announced the indictment of three people for their participation in the “brazen daylight robbery” in January. That theft involved the hijacking of a truck near a Long Island Apple Store and the theft of $1.2 million worth of MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and accessories.

The New York Times provided details of how the suspects were arrested.

The leads included fingerprints on documents, one of the accused thieves renting a storage unit in his own name and another activating two stolen Apple Watches.

There has been an arrest in Britain’s most high-profile recent iPhone theft.

In October 2025, a government-issued iPhone was stolen from Morgan McSweeney, who was at the time chief of staff to British Prime Minister Kier Starmer.

The loss of the iPhone meant McSweeney could not produce messages between himself and Lord Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, who was in a difficult situation because of his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson was removed from office and later indicted, and McSweeney resigned in February.

At the end of April, The BBC According to reports, a man was arrested for selling McSweeney’s stolen iPhone. The man does not appear to be responsible for the initial theft.

Additionally, the phone itself has not been recovered.

Man pleads guilty to stealing MacBooks, Beyoncé’s unreleased music

In the summer of 2025, a rental car belonging to a member of pop superstar Beyoncé’s entourage was broken into in Atlanta. This led to the theft of hard drives and computers, including a MacBook Air, which contained the singer’s unreleased music.

An arrest was made in September and, just before the trial began, the man accused of the thefts pleaded guilty on May 12.

According to ABC7the 40-year-old defendant agreed to serve two years in prison followed by three more on probation. Before the plea was announced, prosecutors showed videos of the defendant approaching the vehicle and then driving it toward an apartment complex.

The stolen items, according to that report, included “two MacBook laptops, Apple headphones, luxury clothing and accessories” and hard drives that investigators said contained previously unreleased Beyoncé material.

Teenagers arrested for stealing iPhone cases

Many thieves around the world, including in the UK, steal iPhones. Two teenagers in this country were arrested for stealing iPhone cases.

Eastern Daily Press reports that the two teens were arrested in Attleborough, where police say they were carrying 42 iPhone cases, worth 2,500 pounds, or about $3,382.

The cases, according to reports, were stolen from Apple Stores in Norwich and Cambridge.

Federal indictment against man accused of hacking victims’ accounts on iCloud and other services

Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of a Maryland man who they say accessed the private information of nearly 200 victims.

A 41-year-old employee at a Maryland medical system allegedly used “various cyber intrusion techniques” to access victims’ accounts with “online services such as Google Photos, iCloud Photos, Gmail, and Microsoft 365, as well as social media accounts.” The project, announced by the Ministry of Justice, lasted eight years.

The man was charged with two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer and one count of aggravated identity theft.

AirTag helps recover stolen Lamborghini after chase

Police used an AirTag to recover a stolen 2021 Lamborghini Urus, worth $300,000, in New Jersey in late April.

According to CBS New Yorksurveillance video caught thieves stealing the car from a custom body shop called MoeModz. However, the car owner had thought of placing an AirTag inside the Lamborghini, which the police were able to track.

This resulted in a chase that reached the Garden State Parkway, which ended when the occupants of the car got out and fled on foot. One of them, aged 21, was charged with receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.

The Lamborghini suffered $15,000 in damage.

Couple follows AirPods to junkyard to find stolen car

Another case of an owner using Apple technology to find a stolen car occurred in Milwaukee in early May.

ATM 4 reported that a couple in that city left their car on a street after a tire blew out. When they returned with a spare car, the car was gone.

After calls to various garages proved unsuccessful, the owner checked Find My iPhone and realized his AirPods had been left in the car.

Unfortunately, after following the signal, the car ended up in a scrapyard, “already crushed”. Milwaukee police are investigating the theft.

AirPods hunted after vehicle burglaries

In another case of AirPods being tracked to find stolen merchandise, two men were arrested after a series of car burglaries in Quad Cities, Iowa.

According to KWQCthere were more than 15 car burglaries between early March and early May, and after one, in which a credit card and AirPods were taken, police tracked the AirPods to an apartment building. There, they found the AirPods and other stolen items, which led to the arrests.

Two people charged in series of Facebook Marketplace thefts

Two Miami men, ages 20 and 22, have been arrested and charged in a series of Facebook Marketplace thefts in which they are accused of stealing iPhones, iPads and MacBooks.

WSVN According to police, the two men arranged meetings to purchase the products on Marketplace and, during the meetings, they would steal the items without paying.

One of the two faces charges of theft by sudden snatching, armed robbery, burglary of an occupied vehicle and grand larceny.

Philippine TV host recovers stolen iPad

Teddy Corpuz, a well-known television host in the Philippines, had his iPad stolen, among other items, during a burglary in May. However, according to GMA News OnlineCorpuz announced on Facebook that he had recovered the iPad.

Other stolen items included “cash, jewelry (and) a charger.”