Texas cops on hunt for woman accused of stealing more than 100 iPads

Washington, May 5 (ANI): A woman, who has allegedly stolen more than 100 iPads from various departmental stores in 36 different Texas cities, is still on the loose.

The woman has hit 28 Walmarts and eight Target stores in Texas, leaving each of them with several iPads.

According to the police and surveillance videos, the woman succeeds at stealing the sealed iPad boxes by using the same tactic each time, ABC News reported.

She fills her cart with groceries, then goes to the electronics department and says she wants to buy a couple of iPads.

As she is checking out, she takes the iPads, after they have been rung up, and slips them into her tote bag.

She then tells the clerk she needs to get her wallet from her car. She goes outside and doesn't return to pay.

The new iPad starts at 499 dollars, the highest end model with 64GB of storage and 4G service costs 829 dollars.

Police estimate that she has stolen 57,000 dollars worth of iPads. They continue to search for her and the stolen merchandise.

Thefts of iPhones and iPads have been on the rise in cities across the country.

In April, the New York Police Department reported that the theft of Apple devices was up by 44 percent.

Chicago police also reported that the theft of iPhones has been on the rise.

Both police departments have trained their officers to use Apple's Find My Phone feature.

Unfortunately, in the case of these 100 stolen iPads the tablets were brand new and not yet registered to a user, so the app cannot be used to trace them. (ANI)