A Las Vegas boy was killed Thursday after being run over when two men attempted to steal his iPad.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, Marcos Arenas, 15, was walking on the side of the road with his iPad when an SUV pulled up. A suspect jumped out, accosted the boy and attempted to steal his iPad.
Police investigators told the newspaper that the suspect dragged the teen, who tried to hold onto the device, back toward the car.
The suspect then re-entered the passenger side of the car, which sped off with Arenas either still holding onto the iPad, or being held by the suspect, police said. Arenas fell, was struck by the vehicle and later died at an area hospital.
Police released descriptions of both the passenger and the driver of the SUV, which is thought to be a a white Ford Explorer or Expedition with no license plates.
A police spokesman told CBS affiliate KLAS that there has been an recent increase in thefts of Apple products in the Las Vegas area. This follows a national trend that has been dubbed "Apple picking," which the Huffington Post has been following in its "iTheft" series.
Las Vegas Metro Police spokesman Bill Cassell told the station that many incidences of "Apple picking" involve juveniles stealing devices from other juveniles. This case is not one of those, as police described both the passenger and the driver of the vehicle as being in their twenties.
Police around the country are trying controversial new methods to combat Apple picking. The Huffington Post has reported that in cities like San Francisco, plainclothes police have conducted sting operations against buyers of stolen devices in an effort to squash demand.
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