Former Phoenix Suns player Rex Chapman arrested for shoplifting in Scottsdale
Sep 19, 2014, 4:50 PM | Updated: 9:12 pm
PHOENIX — Former Phoenix Suns player Rex Chapman has been arrested by Scottsdale police on suspicion of multiple shoplifting incidents, according to a Scottsdale PD release.
Police said Apple employees are accusing Chapman of multiple thefts over the last few months at an Apple Store at 15169 N. Scottsdale Road. The employees first brought the incidents to the Scottsdale PD’s attention last month.
Chapman, 46, was stopped in his car in northeast Scottsdale around 1:45 p.m. Friday and arrested by detectives.
In several instances, Chapman would allegedly pick up items in the store and make it appear that he was paying for them through the store’s self-checkout, using an iPhone app. He would then allegedly leave the store without actually paying for the merchandise.
Police said they suspect former Suns player took the stolen items to a local pawn shop and sold them for cash.
Seven incidents of theft have been reported to Scottsdale police. The total estimated loss is more than $14,000.
Chapman is facing nine counts of organized retail theft and five counts of trafficking in stolen property — all felonies.
The former NBA guard is expected to be transported to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office 4th Avenue Jail in Phoenix.
Police did not say if Chapman was at the Apple Store on Friday morning for the highly anticipated iPhone 6 release.
Chapman played 12 seasons in the NBA, including his last four with the Suns. He retired after the 1999-2000 season.
He becomes the second former Suns player over the last year to be arrested for a series of thefts in the Phoenix area. Richard Dumas played two of his three NBA seasons in Phoenix in the early- to mid-1990s, and he was arrested last December on suspicion of taking about $800 worth of items from Luke Air Force Base’s exchange store while working with a janitorial service.
