It is peak season for apple picking – and we’re not talking fruit...

Beware of Apple pickers! 

There’s a new wave in crime on the rise and anyone with a smart phone is at risk. Sgt. Al Vazquez, detective with the New Haven police department in Connecticut, says there is a black market for the smartphone, especially iPhones. People who walk around with their phones in plain sight are at higher risk of muggings and theft. 

While iPhones and iPads are the preferred crop of Apple pickers, any gadget will do. Law enforcement in Washington D.C. and New York say that roughly 40 percent of all robberies now involve cell phones. Part of the problem is that people are paying more attention to their cell phone in public than to their surroundings, which makes them ripe for picking.