On March 1, 2017 a Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the area of the Deer Park Town Center. The driver of the car Mohammed Hosein, 23, of Detroit, Michigan, said he and his passenger, Wen Jie Qin, 21, of San Francisco, California, just left the Apple Store after exchanging broken iPhones. The alert sheriff’s deputy, knowing there have been a number of fraudulent purchases at the Deer Park Apple Store, conducted additional investigation.
After further investigation by sheriff’s deputies and detectives, it was determined Hosein and Qin traveled to numerous Apple Stores across the United States and fraudulently obtained possession of numerous Apple iPhones. Over 100 Apple iPhones were recovered from Qin and Hosein, which they obtained fraudulently.
Hosein was subsequently charged with burglary (class 2 felony), retail theft (class 3 felony), and traffic related offenses. He is currently being held in the Lake County Jail on $50,000.00 bail. He is due in court on March 27, 2017 at 1:30PM in courtroom C-120.
Qin was subsequently charged with burglary (class 2 felony) and retail theft (class 3 felony). He is currently being held in the Lake County Jail on $50,000.00 bail. He is due in court on March 27, 2017 at 1:30PM in courtroom C-120.
In 2016 and 2017 sheriff’s detectives arrested the following individuals in connection with fraudulently obtaining merchandise from Apple stores:
Alexander J. Soto, 25, of Yonkers, New York
Diamand D. Reid, 22, of Roseville, Michigan
John Michael Johnson, 18, of Ferndale, Michigan
Nicole E. Cannon, 21, of New York, New York
Gisselle Diaz, 41, of Elmhurst, New York
Corbett Ortiz, 26, of New York, New York
Quintin Ortiz, 18, of Bronx, New York
Melinda Aquino, 21, of Bronx, New York
Frank Aulet, 20, of Bronx, New York
Simone L. Signorelli, 22, of Palisades, New York
All of those arrested have been involved in committing high-value thefts through deceptive means at Apple stores. Lake County Sheriff’s Detectives continue to work with authorities locally and regionally to ensure those responsible are identified and arrested. Sheriff’s Deputies continue to provide increased patrols at the Deer Park Apple Store.
Sheriff Curran reminds the public the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.