Apple store in Madrid’s Torre Caleido suffers three break-ins since opening in late 2022
Bollards and video surveillance cameras have been installed to try to stop the break-ins.
The Apple store in the Torre Caleido shopping center in Fuencarral, next to the Cuatro Torres, in the north of the capital, has suffered at least three break-ins since it opened at the end of last year. The thieves broke into the establishment in the early hours of the morning on all three occasions, causing serious damage and, in one of the criminal actions, took material worth 100,000 euros, as confirmed by police sources.
This wave of robberies has led to the installation of very thick bollards at the entrance of the establishment, with the aim of stopping the break-ins. For the moment, they have succeeded, since in the last three months there have been no more robberies, as police sources state.
Video surveillance cameras have also been installed in the pedestrian avenues of the commercial area to try to deter criminals, who have also tried to rob other premises in the area. In addition, other obstacles have been placed to prevent thieves from entering with cars through the pedestrian area and thus prevent the possibility of further robberies by ramming all types of vehicles against shop windows or the entrance.
MORE PRIVATE SECURITY
The Torre Caleido shopping center also has private security surveillance, which has been reinforced in the face of these first robberies after the opening of the premises in November last year, according to one of the security employees in the area. At the Apple store hit by the thefts, its employees have preferred not to talk about the facts that have been reported to the National Police station in the Madrid district of Fuencarral.
Police sources have stated that the robberies are being investigated and that they have recordings that could allow them to advance in the investigations. Although they have not been able to specify whether the perpetrators of the robberies could have been the same individuals. “We believe that we are dealing with different groups that, as soon as they open this type of business, study the way to rob them,” said the same sources.
In one of the robberies, the thieves used an Audi RSQ to smash the door entrance and gain access to the store’s warehouse. Computers, telephones and equipment valued at 100,000 euros were taken, according to the complaint. The assailants were hooded and armed with hammers and iron bars to commit the crime.
In another of the robberies, they smashed the entrance with maces, and in the third, they also smashed the window of the entrance with another off-road vehicle.
As a result of this series of thefts at the Apple store, items are no longer on display once the store is closed. When the lights are turned off, the products are stored in a special lockbox.
Inside the Apple store, at the foot of the four towers, damage from the break-ins is still visible. The front of the entrance is still broken at the top, and the damage is also visible underneath the entrance displays. This newspaper has tried unsuccessfully to contact the Torre Caleido shopping center.