Dallas police officer accused of stealing $37,000 in product from Apple Stores

DALLAS — Apple’s security team noticed a trend over the last two years: Product kept disappearing from the stockrooms at the company’s retail stores in Dallas. 

In fact, the count variances at the Apple Stores at NorthPark, Knox Street and the Galleria were deemed “exceptionally high,” among the top 10 of all Apple Stores in the company, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The security team’s investigation, the affidavit said, led them to a Dallas police officer.

Senior Cpl. Le Chau, who was arrested earlier this month, is accused of stealing $37,000 in merchandise while working off-duty overnight security at the Apple Stores, according to the affidavit, which was obtained by WFAA on Thursday.

The affidavit said Chau in March was seen on surveillance footage concealing items in his Dallas police jacket and then leaving the store with “fully loaded” duffels bags of product.

In another instance in March, the affidavit said, Chau was seen on surveillance footage climbing to a top shelf in a stock room and using a trash picker to grab items he couldn’t reach. Among the items he took from the top shelf was a full box of AirPod Pros, the affidavit said. He tried to hide the AirPods in his police jacket and stuck the trash picker down his pants, according to the affidavit. The serial numbers from the box were later found in the trash in a restroom at the store, police said.

The affidavit detailed several other time in which Chau is accused of stealing from the Apple Store, including one night he allegedly stole more than $17,000 in product.

The investigation was initiated by Apple’s security team after they noticed a series of missing products from stock rooms at Apple Stores in Dallas, including the Knox Street location and stores at NorthPark and the Galleria, the affidavit said.

Apple’s security team reviewed surveillance footage and saw Chau “bringing backpacks and duffel bags into the store during his shifts,” the affidavit said. He was then seen leaving the store with the bags “fully loaded,” according to the affidavit. 

The Apple security team then installed “covert cameras” that captured Chau stealing merchandise, the affidavit said.

The Apple security team also provided to police screenshots from Chau’s wife’s Facebook page, showing that she was selling Apple products through Facebook Marketplace, the affidavit said.

Chau has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Chau has worked for the Dallas Police Department since 2013 and was assigned to the department’s Basic Academy, police officials said.