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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Stolen Apple Products are 'Easy' Money, Fedora-Clad Burglar Tells Police

MANHATTAN — A suspected burglar who sports a fedora and has been tied to at least nine break-ins in the past month has been caught, police said.

Darryl Simpson, 31, broke into several businesses and offices across Manhattan between June 22 and his arrest on July 14, stealing thousands of dollars worth of computers and other goods and selling them, according to a criminal complaint.

Police caught Simpson on July 14, when an officer saw him at West 24th Street and Sixth Avenue and recognized him as a suspect in multiple commercial break-ins, made even more recognizable by a distinctive fedora, beard, and necklace that he had worn during at least one of the crimes, according to a police report. 

When the officers went to arrest him, Simpson flailed his arms and tried to flee, but was unsuccessful, police said. But when he got to the 13th Precinct, Simpson became more cooperative as detectives showed him surveillance footage of him caught in the act, according to a criminal complaint. 

When investigators asked him where he fenced the goods he told them “I sell everything in Philadelphia.” 

And when detectives showed him images of the burglary of an office in Chelsea on June 29, he said the crime was the gateway for targeting Apple products for the black market, police said.

“It was an eye-opener learning the availability of Apple products in the city and how easy it is to steal them,” he told police, according to a criminal complaint.

Police alleged that Simpson is connected to the following crimes:

► On June 22, at about 8:18 p.m., he allegedly snuck into an office on the eighth floor of One Penn Plaza and swiped eight MacBooks worth a total of $8,000, police said. He was spotted on surveillance footage entering the office with one bag and leaving with a larger bag on wheels, according to a criminal complaint.

► On June 29, at about 2:30 p.m. Simpson allegedly snuck into an office on the fourth floor of 675 Sixth Ave. between West 21st and West 22nd streets and stole electronics worth a total of $8,308, according to the complaint.

► He struck again on July 1, breaking into a second-floor office at 405 Fifth Ave. at 38th Street and toted away a single Macbook, police said.

► On July 2 at about 10:55 p.m. Simpson stole three iMacs from a business on the 11th floor of 40 W. 25th St. between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and copped to the crime after his arrest, police said.

► Simpson allegedly celebrated Independence Day by breaking into a 14th-floor office at 130 E. 59th St. between Park and Lexington avenues on July 4 at about 11:30 a.m., stealing $1,700 worth of computers and electronics, according to police. Simpson told investigators that he flipped the stolen goods for $300.

► Later on July 4 Simpson snuck into an office on the 11th floor of 200 Fifth Ave. at West 23rd Street at about 6 p.m. and walked out with an iMac, according to the complaint. 

► On July 6, Simpson returned to the fourth floor office of 675 Sixth Ave. and broke in at 10 p.m., leaving a damaged front door, but snuck off without stealing anything, police said.

► On July 9 Simpson tried to break into a third-floor office in 477 Madison Ave. at East 51st Street at 11 a.m., but wasn’t able to get the door open, police said. Video footage of the attempted break-in showed Simpson trying to wipe down the doorknob after his failed attempt, according to the complaint.

► Shortly after his attempt on the third floor that day, Simpson made another unsuccessful attempt to sneak into a fifth-floor office before finally finding success on the 16th floor, where he stole an iPad, and on the 21st floor, where he swiped a Microsoft tablet, according to police.

Prosecutors charged Simpson with 11 counts of burglary, three counts of grand larceny, and one count of resisting arrest, according to a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. A judge ordered him held on $30,000 bail, and he’s due back in court on July 26, records show.

A lawyer for Simpson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.