The iPod is the hottest selling music player on the market these days. Some people in Logan apparently wanted to have one — at a five finger discount. Now, 16 people are facing possible criminal charges in connection with the thefts of 61 iPods from the Utah State University bookstore in Logan.
Fourteen are students at Logan's Sky View High School and two are adults, said USU Police Lt. Steve Milne. The iPods were taken from the bookstore over a period of two weeks in February.
"They are a popular item, and word got around about how easy they were to acquire in the bookstore," he said Wednesday. "They would distract the clerk and someone would walk out with them. Word spread, and it turned into quite a thing."
The 61 stolen iPods ranged from the $150 Nano to the new Video iPod that retails at $369. Altogether, police believe $20,000 in iPods were stolen. They were being sold for $100 to $150 to friends, police said.
"Some of these guys weren't business savvy," Milne said. "They were giving them to some friends with IOUs, and they didn't collect the money."
Word leaked out at Sky View High School about the deeply discounted iPods, and school resource officers began investigating. By Wednesday, USU police had interviewed 20 people in connection with the case. Eighteen iPods had been recovered, leaving 43 still missing.
USU police said they plan to ask Cache County prosecutors to file theft and receiving stolen property charges against the 14 students and the two adults. Some will be issued summons to appear in court. An arrest warrant is being drafted for one of the adults, Milne said.
"They've all been very cooperative," Milne said of the student suspects. "I don't believe all these students were involved in the thefts of all the iPods."
He placed some of the blame on the USU bookstore for displaying all the iPods on one shelf that was easy to access. Since the thefts, police said the bookstore has moved the iPods, displaying only one show model.
Police say iPod thefts are growing across Utah. In November 2005, Orem police said five people were arrested for smashing through a window at a Macsomething store in Orem and stealing 20 iPods. One of the thieves was caught trying to sell the stolen iPods on eBay. In February, three teens were arrested in connection with the theft of $3,000 worth of iPods from a Target store in American Fork.
"It's the new thing to have," said Sandy Police Sgt. Victor Quezada. Officers in Sandy are reporting an increase in iPod thefts, with many being sold on the streets at deep discounts or turning up in pawn shops. "All the kids have got to have one. It's like having a boom box in the '80s."
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com