Tyler Mims, the 23-year-old man arrested on February 7th following a brazen theft of 50 iPhones at the Bay Street Emeryville Apple Store, has been released on bail according to recent Alameda County court documents.
Mims and his alleged accomplice 28-year-old Undre Deshaun Railey were both arraigned on February 14. The District Attorney’s office announced multiple organized retail theft-related crimes against Mims and Railey on February 16.
Iyana Hill, Mims’ 20-year-old girlfriend and the mother of his three children, was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property but was not charged and is no longer in custody.
Mims, who also goes by the alias “TyTy,” was on probation at the time of the event and was arrested at least four times in the span of a couple months for suspicion of similar thefts. Despite this, he was repeatedly freed by our judicial system.
Mims has a lengthy rap sheet including cruelty to child and battery on his spouse according to the website LocalCrimeNews.com that publicly publishes arrest records. In August, 2023, Mims was charged with tampering with his home-monitoring device.
Mims’ next pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 20 at the Wiley W. Manuel courthouse in Oakland. The entire judicial process could take upwards of a year to unfold.
February 7 Viral Video
Mims became “internet famous” after a video alleged to be him went viral. The February 7 video shows a man wearing a black balaclava over his face rapidly snatching rows of iPhones and stuffing them into his sweat pants. The perpetrator then strolls past an Emeryville patrol car (later determined to be an unmanned “ghost car”) and fleeing in a double-parked getaway car.
The original video posted to TikTok, which incorrectly identified the location as “Oakland,” has been viewed over 17 million times on the platform. It was shared widely across other platforms and news outlets likely amplifying global views beyond a hundred million views.
@bustdowncorn 49 Iphones allegedly took from the Apple store, this is what now seems to be normal in today’s time. Be safe | instagram: Bustdown_corn #fyp #foryou #viral #relatable #blowthisup #tiktokchallenge #TikTokTrends #makemefamous #viralvideo #fypシ #trending #4you #goviral #foryoupage #delusional #funnyvideos #MentalHealthAwareness #onthisday #iphone #oakland #bayarea ♬ original sound – Corn
The video went viral for several reasons. Not only was the brazen theft at a retailer of one of the most popular brands on the planet, it also fit the so-called “doom loop” narrative of the many accounts that shared it. Many of these accounts monetize views of these videos by spotlighting the dysfunction of California cities including Oakland.
The video also contributed to the ongoing debate over criminal justice reforms, recidivism and the impact of so-called “reformer” District Attorneys and Judges on public safety and society.
It’s fair to ask if these Judges and District Attorneys exercised sound judgement when they ruled not to detain someone with a pattern of criminal behavior who went on to reoffend. It’s also fair to ask why it took millions of internet views for our judicial system to finally put a stop to Mims’ and Railey’s alleged crime spree.
Timeline of Events
The renovated Bay Street Emeryville Apple store had only been reopened for 11 days when it was first hit on January 19. Mims and Railey allegedly returned four days later to commit the same crime and two more times in the span of less than two weeks.
The SF Standard provided a comprehensive timeline of Mims & Railey’s alleged criminal rampage that began on November 27, 2023 and concluded when they were arrested on February 7.
This timeline includes:
- 4 thefts and 2 attempted thefts from the Berkeley 4th Street Apple Store
- 4 thefts from the Bay Street Emeryville Apple Store
- 4 arrests between January 23 and February 7
Mims would allegedly sell his haul, valued at tens of thousands of dollars, for between $600 and $1,500. These display models would presumably then be sold on the black market to naive buyers or parted out.
What are Judges & District Attorney’s Role in Recidivism?
While clearly Mims’ case is anecdotal, it begs some important questions of our criminal justice system that is often opaque and perplexing to layman.
As discussion of the impending recall of Progressive Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price heats up, many voters are rightfully asking what the role her office is playing in our levels of recidivism and surge in crime that many cities are experiencing.
If rising levels of crime are not the fault of Progressive D.A.’s, is it our laws, our judges, a combination of these … or other factors?
Mims was being initially held on $810,000 bail pending his arraignment. This amount ended up being lowered to $100,000 by Alameda Superior Court Judge Elena Conde (The actual bond needed to post bail is generally 10% percentage of this amount).
Condes was elected to the position in 2020 with endorsements from Labor Groups and The East Bay Times noting her passion for “alternatives to incarceration” on her Ballotpedia survey. Her 6-year term ends on January 4, 2027.
The SF Chronicle requested prosecuting data from Price’s office needed to provide objective analysis of her track record. Over a year after requesting this data, Price’s office has yet to hand over this data (a violation of the Public Record Act).
Price has publicly posted that her office intends to have a public data portal for tracking cases “by the end of 2024.”
Alameda County District Attorney’s Report Shows Prosecution Rates Remain Steady. Only 3 DA offices in California have public data portals for tracking cases-Alameda County DA plans to be the 4th by the end of 2024! Work in progress! #protecthewin #DAPricehttps://t.co/UR3uvWCUac
— Campaign Team – Pamela Price for DA| 官善貞 (@PPrice_Cares) May 8, 2024
Price has continually asserted that her role as D.A. “has really no impact on crime” citing a University of Toronto study.
Communities have apparently disagreed with these studies as surges in local crime and high-profile cases have led to the ousting of progressive San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin and Price is looking at a similar recall effort. There are also efforts underway to modify Prop 47 that reclassified some of these crimes as misdemeanors.
Many progressives have shrugged their shoulder at these type thefts because they are being committed against corporations who presumably “have insurance” or dismiss the crimes as non-violent property crimes and not deserving of punishment that includes jail time.
We reached out the the DAs office multiple times for clarity on this story but they were unresponsive.
Updates on Mims’ case can be done by searching the Alameda County Criminal Docket Finder by entering docket number 24-CR-001580A and selecting the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse from the pull-down.
Thanks for sharing the info on how to track the docket info.
Great report
Fantastic article, Rob! It’s one thing not to jail someone for stealing a candy bar, and another thing entirely to justify organized crime rings stealing by the tens of thousands on the grounds that big corporations deserve it. That’s anarchy, and it gets out of control quickly. You can’t use a political argument to justify crime. Clearly, the criminals aren’t targeting just big corporations bc even Mom and Pop business are getting looted. If we as a community want to support small businesses instead of big corporations, then simply choose where to spend your money.
Regarding Prop 47, I used to think it was terrible, but when you see the dollar values being stolen most of the time, you realize how irrelevant it is to most of these thefts, which vastly exceed those limits. Furthermore, I was surprised to discover that California only has the 43rd highest dollar amount for felony theft. 42 States have even higher limits, so our law is not even close to being one of the most favorable for criminals in the country. I do like Governor newsom’s proposal to make these dollar amounts cumulative, so if someone reaches $900 over several incidents of shoplifting, then they would fall under the law then. I feel like that creates a pretty good compromise between not wasting resources on petty crime but leaving the door open to prosecuting recurring petty crime
This guy has three kids…and a rap sheet that includes “cruelty to a child”. This is how the cycle continues, what a shame.