Man Arrested for Stealing Airpods From Boro Park Store

A cellphone store owner and Shomrim member grabbed and detained a man who had attempted to steal a set of Airpods from the 13th Avenue store.

The incident, captured on surveillance footage (below), occurred at the AT&T store on 13th Avenue between 46th and 47th Street at 2:37 p.m. Monday. The store’s manager, who asked not to be named, also spoke with Hamodia, detailing the conversation that occurred.

A young man entered the store and asked for a set of AirPods Pro, whereupon the manager brought out the box of pods, then took out his tablet to ring up the purchase. While ringing up the sale, the manager took a phone call, and the young man asked the manager if he could see the box.

“I handed him the box, and said, ‘Don’t open it yet,’ because it is the property of AT&T until the card is charged,” the manager related.

The young man took the box, and started running toward the door. He attempted to push out the door, but didn’t realize that it opened inward. The manager grabbed him and, as they struggled, began screaming, “Chaptzem!”

The thief dropped the box of Airpods, and opened the door to flee, but a Shomrim member who works nearby and was standing outside, heard the manager’s screams and grabbed the thief as he exited the store.

The thief immediately put up his hands in a surrendering pose.

The manager and Shomrim member brought the thief back into the store and began speaking with him.

According to the manager, the thief said, “I gave it back, I didn’t do anything, I apologize,” and asked them not to call the police.

“I asked him if he belives in G-d, and said that if he does, he can’t steal,” the manager related. “He said that he had just started a job. I told him, ‘If you don’t change your ways you will end up in jail, or dead before 30.”

the NYPD was called, and after reviewing the video footage, arrested the man.

Police did not immediately release the man’s name or the charges.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com

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