Orland Park Police Report Spike In Apple Store ID Thefts

ORLAND PARK, IL -- It’s probably a good thing that the Orland Park Police Department is located just a few blocks away from Orland Square Mall. In addition to all the arrests and warrants for retail crime, the mall’s Apple store has been a magnet for identity theft.

Orland Park police said that in the past 18 months, 30 of the village's 34 identity-theft related arrests or investigations involved attempted fraudulent purchases of Apple’s famous line of smartphones at the Orland Square Mall. The cases have become so prevalent, that Cook County Judge Peter Felice, who presides over the Fifth Municipal District felony bond court in Bridgeview, has remarked on it.

Close to 85 percent of the Apple store's identity theft crimes involved attempts to fraudulently purchase iPhones using an AT&T account. Over 65 percent of all fraudulent activity originated from active AT&T accounts where suspects unlawfully placed themselves on victims’ accounts without their knowledge or permission, Orland Park police said.

Last month, an identity theft crew was said to have hit the Chicago-area. A New Jersey man was arrested after he tried to upgrade three phones using a Virginia man’s AT&T account and social security number, police said. An Apple sales associate told police the man was able to recite the fraudulent social security by heart three times. Police said the New Jersey man was recognized by a loss prevention officer from another attempt to steal an unsuspecting person's identity at Apple’s Northbrook Court store.

On Nov. 5, Orland Park police stopped an identity theft in progress at the Apple store in Orland Square Mall. According to police, Ernest Bryant Jr. and Ashjanae King, who are both 21 and from Detroit, Mich., were detained by police and loss prevention officers outside the Apple store. Bryant was found with two iPhone 8s in his possession; King had three iPhone 8s. Police said both had financed the phones at their full retail value of $949 by creating fictitious AT&T accounts using the stolen identities of people outside Illinois.

King and Bryant appeared before Judge Felice on a charge of felony identity theft for a bond hearing on Nov. 6. Bryant was released on a $20,000 I-bond; King was given a $25,000 I-bond. Felice admonished both that they had to show up for all of their court appearances or warrants would be issued for their arrests. Both are due back in court Nov. 21 in Bridgeview. In addition, the judge ordered that King report weekly by phone to pretrial services. She was also given an evening curfew.

“She needs a little discipline in her life,” Felice said.