A Dallas police officer who worked off-duty security at three local Apple Stores has given himself up after a warrant was issued accusing him of stealing merchandise from the stores.
CBS News Texas reported that Senior Corporal Le Chau worked overnight security at the Apple NorthPark, Apple Knox Street, and Apple Galleria stores.
The company’s global security division found that those stores were experiencing so many thefts that each was on Apple’s top 10 list of retail stores in terms of the number of inventory count variances.
A review of surveillance video caught Chau “concealing approximately 25 pieces of merchandise on one occasion,” and at another point placing products “underneath his Dallas Police Raid jacket.” He was also spotted using a trash picker to grab a box of AirPod Pros on a top shelf.
The Senior Corporal was allegedly selling the Apple products on Facebook Marketplace. The stolen items were valued at $37,806.
“In this case, it turns out the company brought in its cameras that he didn’t know about,” said Dr. Timothy Bray, a University of Texas at Dallas criminologist. “That’s how they tripped him up.”
Bray said those in charge of security often think they can get away with theft.
“One of the big formulas for committing a crime is where there is an opportunity, there was an absence of a capable guardian, in fact, this was the capable guardian they were looking to, and there’s a motivated offender,” Bray said.
Agents with the FBI Dallas office detained and questioned Chau at DFW Airport in April, along with his wife. The department has placed the officer on administrative leave.
