A 44-year-old man has been arrested after an alleged attempted burglary at the Apple Store in Covent Garden, with the store’s own security staff detaining the suspect before police arrived.
The Metropolitan Police were called to the Piazza in Covent Garden on Tuesday afternoon at around 2.52pm, after security staff held a man they suspected of trying to break into the store. The swift detention meant officers arrived to find the situation already under control.
What happened
According to the Met, officers were called to a commercial premises on the Piazza in Covent Garden after the store’s security team detained a man suspected of burglary. By the time police arrived, security had already recovered a mobile phone from the suspect.
The 44-year-old was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and attempted theft. He was taken into custody, where he remains.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “On Tuesday, 13 October at around 14:52hrs police were called to a commercial premises on the Piazza in Covent Garden after security staff detained a man suspected of burglary.”
They added: “Security recovered a mobile phone before officers arrived on scene. He was taken to custody, where he remains.”
A visible police presence in a busy tourist spot
The incident brought a noticeable police presence to one of London’s busiest tourist areas, with officers blocking surrounding roads while they dealt with the scene. Covent Garden’s Piazza is thronged with shoppers, tourists and street performers on any given afternoon, and a police cordon there does not go unnoticed.
The Apple Store at 1-7 The Piazza is one of the company’s flagship London locations, housed in a historic building on the famous square. Its high-value stock makes it an obvious target — and its security team is correspondingly well-drilled, as this incident demonstrated.
Retail crime in the West End
The attempted break-in comes amid ongoing concern about retail crime in central London. The West End’s luxury stores have faced repeated targeting in recent years, from smash-and-grab raids to more brazen daytime attempts. Retailers have responded with heavier private security, and as this case shows, store teams are increasingly the first line of defence — detaining suspects before police even arrive.
The Met has been under pressure to respond more visibly to shoplifting and retail burglary, with business groups arguing that low-level offending has been allowed to escalate. An arrest like this one, made swiftly with the suspect still in custody, is exactly the kind of outcome retailers want to see.
What the charges mean
The man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and attempted theft — not burglary itself. That distinction matters. Attempted theft and criminal damage are the charges where the evidence pointed at the point of arrest; whether burglary charges follow will depend on what the investigation establishes about intent and what actually happened inside or at the entrance to the store.
No charges have been announced yet, and no court date has been set. The investigation continues.
Police appeal
Officers are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to come forward. Anyone who was in the Covent Garden Piazza area on Tuesday afternoon and saw what happened is asked to call 101, quoting CAD 4304/13Oct.
The Piazza is one of the most CCTV-covered spots in London, with cameras operated by the council, Transport for London and private businesses all overlooking the square. Investigators will almost certainly be trawling that footage alongside witness accounts to build the full picture of what happened before security staff intervened.
London Streets has covered other recent police operations across the capital, including today’s developing stories. We will update this article if charges are brought.
