Woman stole Apple products from local Target stores as part of statewide scheme, police say

PITTSBURGH — More than $15,000 in Apple products were stolen in an elaborate statewide scheme, including at several Pittsburgh-area Target stores.

The Attorney General’s office says Angelita Rodriguez posed as an Apple vendor and stole the merchandise so she could resell it.

She is accused of entering several stores across Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland and requesting access to the Apple displays inside, claiming that her key did not work.

Once she had access to the displays, investigators say Rodriguez rearranged and replaced items in these displays, making it look like she belonged there. She would then leave the stores with the stolen Apple products, including iPads, iPhones and MacBooks.

Police said Rodriguez did this at Target stores in East Liberty, Harmar, Ohio Township, North Huntingdon and Greensburg.

Law enforcement worked closely with the Target loss prevention team, who observed several incidents involving Rodriguez on video.

Police searched her rental car and found several items, including several iPhone 16s, a target visitor badge in the center console and a clipboard with instructions on how to remove displays.

Investigators also found records of transactions between August 2023 and December 2024 that revealed Rodriguez had pawned numerous cell phones and iPads in the Reading area.

Rodriguez was arrested at the Target in East Liberty.

Investigators are still working to determine the exact value of all of the stolen items.

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