A Dallas police officer turned himself in earlier this month after DPD issued a warrant for his arrest for theft of property between $30,000 and $150,000, a third-degree felony.
According to the arrest warrant, Apple security began an investigation into these thefts after employees at Apple NorthPark, Apple Knox Street and Apple Galleria reported product missing from the inventory. WFAA reported that the discrepancies between inventory and actual product count at these three locations were among the top 10 highest among all Apple stores.
While reviewing surveillance footage, the security team saw DPD Senior Corporal Le Chau, who had been hired as an off-duty overnight security guard at the stores, bringing empty backpacks and duffel bags to his shifts and leaving with them seemingly full. Upon this discovery, the stores installed covert cameras, which captured Chau stealing merchandise on multiple occasions.
The affidavit said that surveillance footage from March shows Chau concealing stolen product in his Dallas police raid jacket before leaving his shift with duffel bags “fully loaded” with Apple devices. That same month, Chau was seen using a trash picker to obtain products he could not reach from high stockroom shelves, including a box full of AirPods Pros.
The value of property allegedly taken by Chau totals approximately $37,806.00.
A member of Apple’s corporate security team also turned over to DPD screenshots from Chau’s wife’s Facebook place, which appeared to show her selling Apple products via Facebook Marketplace.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Chau and his wife were detained and interviewed by the FBI at DFW International Airport in late April while a federal search warrant was executed on their home in Dallas.
According to DPD, Chau has been with the department since 2013. He has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
