City police set the bait—an unlocked vehicle with obvious iPod, cell phone, camera and watch—along Madison Avenue. Three minutes later they sprung the trap, after two teens on bikes swiped the iPod and cell phone, making it 30 yards before police arrested them. Police found two more iPods after a search. Both juveniles were convicted last week of petty larceny.Police ran the sting operation in the UVA area on May 24, 25, 31 and June 1, in response to a spike in iPod thefts from automobiles. “We had no idea how successful we’d be,” says Charlottesville Police Lieutenant Gary Pleasants, who helped run the operation. Despite the quick success of the first sting, the others produced no arrests.
Since January 2005, thieves have taken 65 iPods from vehicles parked in Charlottesville, according to Pleasants. Police computer statistics show that car larcenies rose by more than 120 percent in May with most iPod thefts occuring in the vicinity of UVA.
Police don’t know where all the stolen iPods are going, though one of the youths arrested in the sting was filmed one week prior to his arrest selling iPods to a local pawnshop with the assistance of his mother. After being identified, the boy’s mother was arrested on Wednesday, June 7, on charges of larceny with the intent to sell and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Pleasants speculates the MP3 players are sold to friends and people on the streets, in addition to pawnshops. Evidence does not suggest an organized ring, but rather two to three petty thieves in a group—often with one working as a lookout while the other swipes the goods.
The best way to protect yourself (other than, ehem, not leaving your iPod in the car), is to hide it from sight. “There’s no question that if they see it, they’re going to take it,” says Pleasants, noting that thieves have smashed many windows to get access to iPods.—Will Goldsmith