Ex-NBA Star Rex Chapman Arrested For Shoplifting $14k From Apple Store
Retired NBA star Rex Chapman has been arrested and accused of stealing $14,000 worth of Apple products from a Scottsdale, Arizona Apple store. Chapman, whose professional career began in 1988 with the Charlotte Hornets and was followed by stints with the Miami Heat and the Washington Bullets, reportedly picked up the merchandise in the store and attempted to make it look like he was paying for them via self-checkout.
Scottsdale police representative Sgt. Mark Clark says that Rex proceeded to leave the store with the items and took them to a local pawn shop, where he sold them for cash. Chapman allegedly stole the items over the course of seven different trips to the store. Employees were supposedly under the impression that Rex had used a self-checkout iPhone app called EasyPay that is mainly used for purchasing accessories, with most higher priced products being ineligible for use with the app.
Police had been investigating the thefts since August, and were able to identify Rex Chapman as the suspect after numerous Apple employees recognized the basketball veteran from his lengthy career, more specifically his time with the Phoenix Suns. Chapman, who more recently served as the vice president of player personnel for the Denver Nuggets, is now faced with nine counts of organized retail theft and five counts of trafficking in stolen property. According to reports, Rex was taken into custody on Friday after being pulled over by Scottsdale police.
Chapman’s arrest follows controversy in the NBA earlier this month surrounding Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson, and comes during an ongoing period of scandals and arrests within the world of professional sports.
Representatives for Rex have yet to release a statement regarding the arrest or the shoplifting incidents, but local Phoenix news station KTAR notes that Chapman is the second former Suns player to be arrested for shoplifting in the past year, following Richard Dumas’ arrest this past December for stealing $800 worth of items from a local air force base.
Chapman spent 12 seasons with the NBA and is said to have made $22 million over the course of those seasons. Rex, a color commentator for TNT during the 2004 and 2005 playoffs, most recently served as an analyst for CBS during the 2013 NCAA tournament. Currently, he is a TV analyst for a college basketball team in Arizona.
Rex Chapman’s playing career ended in 2000. The Kentucky native currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was last seen being transported to a local jail.
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