- Aug 24, 2001
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'Tis the season to be ... greedy?
Apparently. At least in the Best Buy parking lot and later at a McDonald's restaurant Sunday where an armed robber and an accomplice made off with four newly purchased Xbox 360s that several young men had tried to scalp.
For those who haven't heard, Xbox 360s are the hotly promoted, newest and coolest video-game gadget cooked up by Microsoft. People are lining up outside stores nationwide and waiting for hours to buy one. Supply issues and hype make them hard to come by and, consequently, targets for thieves.
A line started forming Saturday evening outside electronic retail store Best Buy in South Anchorage. Best Buy was one of a handful of places in town to stock them. Dozens of people waited hours in the cold to buy one of the $399 units when they went on sale at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, according to Anchorage police and Best Buy clerks.
Best Buy had 50 Xbox 360s to sell. As they did after the Nov. 22 product launch, the units sold out within a couple of hours, said assistant manager Rod Person.
After waiting nine hours in line, a group of five boys and young men entered the store as soon as it opened and purchased their limit: one per customer. The young men, whose names were not available Sunday, tried to make a little extra holiday cash after emerging from the store.
They offered to part with two of their Xboxs to folks in line. For $600, said police spokesman Paul Honeman.
No one agreed. So the five, ages 14 to 24, piled into a van and drove to McDonald's on Lake Otis Parkway near Abbott Road for breakfast. They left the 14-year-old in the car with the Xboxs.
Someone who also wanted an Xbox and who apparently saw them trying to sell the consoles outside Best Buy followed them to McDonald's, Honeman said.
A man who was described as bald and wearing bluejeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt walked up to the van, opened its sliding door and pulled a gun out, police said. The man ordered the teen to open the van's rear door. Another man, described as having dark curly hair, opened the door and took four of the Xboxs.
The teen hid the fifth unit under his feet and managed to keep it, Honeman said.
The thieves drove off in a dark SUV. Police believe a third person was involved.
The holiday season appears to be bring out the worst in some Anchorage residents, according to police robbery statistics.
Anchorage usually charts about one robbery every other day. But since Thanksgiving, when the holiday shopping frenzy begins, Anchorage has experienced about one robbery daily, Honeman said.
He urged people to use common sense. When purchasing expensive items, especially if you are alone, have store security walk you to your car or ask them meet you and your car at the curb and pick up the items there, he said.
At the very least, don't make a spectacle of yourself by hawking expensive toys in parking lots, he advised.
Armed robbery is a Class A felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. Police urge anyone with information about the Xbox robbers to call them at 786-8900.