Techworld - Apple has
come in for heavy criticism after a woman was allegedly tasered by police at one
of its stores after refusing to leave when told she would not be allowed to buy
more than two iPhones.
Xiaojie Li of Newton in Massachusetts bought two iPhone 5s at the store in
Nashua New Hampshire last week, which were apparently intended as gifts for
relatives in China.
When returning to buy a further iPhone this week Li was told by Apple sales
staff that she had exceeded a two phones per customer limit designed to foil
profit-seeking Internet resellers.
After refusing or failing to understand their request to leave - Li is
reported to speak poor English - amateur footage posted on YouTube shows her being dragged from
the store by police officers who are accused of tasering her while
prone.
A police spokesperson later described the arrest as "a criminal trespass
incident and fairly routine here."
Police claim Li had $16,000 (APS10,000) in her purse at the time of her
arrest. Her fiance claimed the phones were meant for the woman's sister and
denied she intended to resell them.
Regardless of Li's intention in buying the phones, reaction on social media
has been near-universally critical of the heavy-handed response by police and,
by extension, Apple.
'Tasered for buying too many iPhones,' is probably not a headline that will
be well-received in china itself, the country in which the iPhone is
manufactured.