Metro

Thefts of Apple products continue to increase

For sticky-fingered New Yorkers, Apples are always in season.

Thefts of coveted Apple products continue to increase, NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Bilich said at a City Council hearing Monday.

“In 2013, as of November 10, cellphones were involved in nearly 45 percent of robberies, and over half of the devices stolen were iPhones,” Bilich told Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan), chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee.

Noting that a used iPhone 5 can sell for between $250 and $400, Garodnick quipped, “Not bad for a piece of metal that weighs less than 4 ounces.” The councilman is proposing a bill that would require pawnshops and other re-sellers to maintain electronic records of their transactions so authorities could easily monitor smartphone sales.

Members of pawnbrokers associations have slammed the bill as a way of conducting warrantless searches under the guise of administrative compliance checks.