Over $80,000 In Merchandise Stolen From Detroit T- Mobile Stores
DETROIT (WWJ) - Police are turning to the public for information after more than $80,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from two T-Mobile stores in Detroit in just two days.
According to Crime Stoppers of Michigan, the first robbery took place on Sunday, May 26 at the T-Mobile store on West Outer Drive near the Southfield Freeway on the city's west side.
In this incident, a black male entered the store and hovered near the front until a white, four-door car drove up and parked at the curb. A second black male exited the car and entered the store carrying plaid laundry bags. The first male then pulled a large handgun and announced a robbery.
Three customers present were ordered to the floor and two employees were forced to the back of the store. There, they were allegedly told to load all the handsets from the inventory cage into the bags and also to remove the money from the safe and place it into the bag.
When the top of the safe could not be accessed, the crooks took the employees back to the sales floor and had them empty all the money from the registers into the bags. The first male exited and placed a bag of phones and the gun into the trunk of the car and then got in the vehicle. The second male then exited the store and got into the waiting car. The suspects fled the scene.
The second incident took place on Tuesday, May 28 at the T-Mobile store on Grand River Avenue near Fullerton Street, just over five miles away from the scene of the first crime.
In this incident, two employees and a customer were in the store finishing a transaction after hours. When one of the employees unlocked the front door so the customer could leave, a black male rushed the door, brandished a handgun and forced his way inside.
The suspect announced a robbery while a second suspect, whose head and face were completely covered, entered the store.
One suspect stayed on the sales floor with one of the employees taking the money from the registers, while the second suspect took the other employee and customer to the back of the store. There, the employee was ordered to place all the handsets into a plastic bag the suspect produced. The bag was thin and began to break, so the suspects emptied a store trashcan and told the employee to use that instead.
The two suspects then exited through the store's back door to a waiting vehicle described as a gold-colored, smaller SUV.
Police have reason to believe that the two robberies are connected. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $6,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
Anyone who has information is urged to call 1-800-SPEAK-UP. You can also submit a tip online at www.1800speakup.org, or text "CSM" and your tip to CRIMES (274637). All calls and cash rewards are completely anonymous.
