Two men have been arrested in the killing of a teenage boy over an iPad in Las Vegas, police said Sunday.

Jacob Dismont, 18, and Michael Solid, 21, were booked Saturday into the Clark County jail on charges of open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

According to investigators, Marcos Arenas, 15, was walking down a street with the iPad on Thursday when a passenger got out of a vehicle and tried to steal the device from him.

Dismont is accused of trying to wrest the tablet away and dragging Arenas toward the SUV when the youth wouldn’t let go of the device. After Dismont re-entered the vehicle and Solid sped away, the teen was dragged until he fell. The vehicle ran over Arenas and he died at a hospital.

“I think both the public and police department share the same sentiment that this was a senseless act of violence,” police spokesman Bill Cassell told The Associated Press.

The suspects succeeded in making off with the device, officers said, but it was not immediately recovered.

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Ivan Arenas said he bought the iPad for his son less than two months ago. The family has never had a lot, the father said, and his son valued everything he had.

“For him to lose his life over an iPad, it’s just not fair,” Ivan Arenas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Never in my life would I imagine that me buying my kid an iPad for his birthday would end up with him getting run over.”

Similar thefts of iPads, iPhones and other Apple devices have become so widespread nationwide that the crime has earned the nickname, “Apple picking,” Cassell said.

“This is a nationwide phenomenon where thieves are targeting individuals who are carrying them,” he said.

Police urge victims of such crimes to always let go of the devices.

According to investigators, Solid has an arrest record of possession of a stolen vehicle, petty larceny, robbery and assault. Dismont does not have any prior adult arrests.

Arenas family spokeswoman Tabitha Guertler said family members are relieved by the arrests and grateful for the quick response by police and the public.

“We are very, very relieved and grateful that these men have been apprehended and can’t hurt anyone else,” she said. “We’re traumatized. Marcos’ loss is something that will be with us forever. He was such an incredible person.”

The oldest of 10 children in the family, the teen was a student at Bonanza High School. The attack occurred in the late afternoon about a half-mile from the school.


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