A group of thieves from New York, United States were caught after being caught stealing USD 500,000 from drug dealers. In their action, the group of thieves was assisted by a smart watch Apple Watch.
The group of seven members launched its action in January 2020. The alleged leader of this group, Darren Lindsay, bought an Apple Watch and linked it to his AT&T account to carry out this mission.
After connecting the Apple Watch, they hid the smartwatch under the bumper of a car belonging to a drug dealer carrying a large amount of cash. With the help of an Apple Watch, the group then followed the drug dealer to the parking lot of a Connecticut hotel.
While finding a drug dealer's car, a member of the gang of thieves broke the rear window but found nothing. They continued to monitor the car all night and the next morning found the driver of the car.
The group of thieves then forced the driver to get into the car and beat him until he gave up his hotel room key. Another member of the gang, Indigo Grant, then broke into a hotel room and found $500,000 worth of cash in a bag.
From there, the group of thieves took the victim and left him in New Britain City. They then returned to New York and distributed the loot.
Although the action is sophisticated enough to use the Apple Watch, this group of thieves is not very smart. Lindsay uploaded a photo of a pile of money to her iCloud account, and her collaborator Antoine Koen even uploaded a photo of a pile of money that also showed her face, as quoted from Apple Insider, Friday (20/8/2021).
This group of thieves was indicted in July 2020 for a series of criminal acts from 2019 to 2020. Although it took place in January 2020, the details of the theft with the Apple Watch were only revealed by prosecutors this week.
Prosecutors said all of the information and evidence was supported by cellular data from Lindsay's Apple Watch and other defendants' phones. Other evidence found included SMS threads discussing Apple Watch passwords, sharing of stolen proceeds, and others.
Lindsay as the alleged leader of the group pleaded not guilty. He faces a minimum of 24 years in prison after facing seven charges, including conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and firearms offense.