Dr. Dre‘s popular headphones line, Beats By Dre, are making headlines this week with reports claiming they are the hottest items amongst thieves.
According to police, quick crooks are specifically gunning for the Beats headphones these days.
The city’s thugs have a new favorite to go with their stolen iPhones — stolen Dr. Dre headphones. The legendary rapper’s pricey, high-tech headphones, called Beats by Dr. Dre, are the new rage among bandits because they’re seen as “status symbols,” a police source said. Although they have yet to dethrone the iPhone as thieves’ top target, the headphones — which retail for $300 to $500 — are being snatched from kids at an alarming rate since the latest model hit the market at around Christmas. “They’re very hot among thieves,” the source said. “It’s like, ‘I see it. I want it. I can have it. I’m taking it for me, or my sister needs a pair,’ ” the source said, adding that crooks also resell them. (New York Post)
Catching the criminals has been especially tough since Beats are untraceable.
In north Brooklyn alone there have been dozens of Beats stolen in the past four months. Still, getting exact numbers on how many Beats have been lifted is tricky, as police suspect their thefts are underreported (since they are untraceable and are rarely insured). Anecdotal evidence and police sources, however, show a growing problem that has even spread into “trendy” neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights. That’s where, on April 17, a teen had his Beats stolen–and was punched in the face
