Man Suspected Of Swapping iPods For Erasers At Target Caught, Arrested, Pleads Not Guilty

Remember the guy in California who gave his wife an iPod box filled with erasers for Christmas, but not intentionally? When he tried to exchange it for a box with a real iPod in it, the new box contained erasers, too. We publish a lot of stories like this, but here’s something unusual: a follow-up story with the arrest of the person behind the alleged eraser-swap.

iPod boxes containing erasers turned up at five different Target stores in the general area of San Diego. Last week, they made an arrest, catching the suspect as he crossed the border into the United States from Mexico.

The alleged culprit pleaded not guilty to two counts of commercial burglary yesterday. He’s not in jail, but police will have the right to enter his home at any time without a warrant. Maybe to check for erasers.

What investigators haven’t told the public yet is how the man would have pulled this off, and neither police nor Target have said whether store surveillance footage helped to identify and find the suspect.

Man accused in iPod thefts pleads not guilty [CBS 8]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist