Man, 21, arrested after Berkeley Apple Store theft
Property crime detectives were able to track down suspect Dwayne Butler II in Oakland and arrest him, BPD said.
Thieves snatched iPhones from the Berkeley Apple Store on Thursday night for at least the third time in recent weeks, according to police and court papers.
Berkeley police said Thursday's theft from the Berkeley Apple Store at 1823 Fourth St. took place just before 6 p.m.
Limited information was available due to the ongoing investigation, but police said two men in their 20s wearing hoodies took 16 iPhones before leaving, according to preliminary information.
Scroll down for an update to the story.
Shortly after the incident, Berkeley property crime detectives were able to track down suspect Dwayne Butler II in Oakland and arrest him, BPD said.
All of the stolen phones were recovered, police said.
Butler, 21, was arrested on suspicion of grand theft, burglary, receiving stolen property and conspiracy, according to arrest records.
He is being held on $80,000 bail and is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday.
(The Scanner added the information about Butler's arrest to this story after publication when it became available.)
Berkeley Apple Store has been popular with thieves
Thursday's report follows another theft at the Berkeley Apple Store on Jan. 17 where one person wearing a ski mask reportedly took more than 40 devices in a "snatch and grab" theft before escaping.
On Dec. 31, an individual in a mask went into the Berkeley Apple Store at about 11:20 a.m. and stole 29 iPhones from the display counter.
Those phones were valued at more than $26,000, police wrote in court papers.
The culprit in that case fled in a getaway car driven by an accomplice, according to BPD.
Read more about northwest Berkeley on The Scanner.
The Berkeley Apple Store and several other businesses in the popular Fourth Street shopping district have been repeat targets for property crimes over the years.
In December 2022, three men in hoodies and masks stole more than 40 iPhones from the store.
That happened in the same month Berkeley PD put a hold on its retail security program, which for years resulted in the posting of a Berkeley police officer outside the Fourth Street Apple Store.
The Berkeley Apple Store was also hit in May 2023 and several times in August.
In November of last year, two men stole more than 30 iPhones from the Berkeley Apple Store before escaping in a getaway vehicle.
Dwayne Butler II. BPD
Last year, The Scanner reported on two prosecutions linked to Bay Area Apple store thefts, but cases often seem to go unsolved.
Update, Monday, Jan. 29: Dwayne Butler II was charged Monday with commercial burglary and grand theft in connection with the Apple Store theft.
In court papers, police said he took nine iPhones, with an approximate value of $10,000. Berkeley police recovered those phones during Butler's arrest, police wrote.
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Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso
