Chicago Man Uses Stolen ID To Buy iPhone At Apple Store: COPS

ORLAND PARK, IL -- A 28-year-old Chicago man was arrested at Orland Square Mall after he tried to purchase iPhones using a stolen social security number, prosecutors said. Shaka Nelson appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a charge of identity theft. Nelson has no prior criminal background.

Police arrested Nelson on Nov. 13 after he allegedly tried financing two iPhone 8s at the Orland Square Apple store using a social security number belonging to a Tennessee man. The value of the phones is $1,898. Police also found Nelson in possession of five re-encoded credit cards belong to the man from Tennessee and another man. The Tennessee man said he had never ordered the credit cards, according to police.

>>> Orland Park Police Report Spike In Apple Store ID Thefts

“Another one from the iPhone store,” Felice said. “We get one of these a week.”

The prosecutor said Nelson told police that a “guy” had offered him $500 to buy the phones. All Nelson had to do to was mail the phones to the guy, and he would send Nelson the $500,

“Don’t you see how you’re being used,” Felice asked. “I’m not saying you’re guilty.”

Nelson was released on a $25,000 I-bond. He is due back in court Dec. 11 in Bridgeview.

Orland Park police say that 31 of the village’s 35 identity-theft related arrests or investigations in the past 18 months have involved fraudulent purchases of iPhones at the Orland Square Apple store.