Help ID crew of serial cell phone store crooks who hurt customer in latest heist

WANTED IN SNOHOMISH COUNTY --
Marysville Police and Snohomish Police are asking for the public's help to identify several members of a crime ring stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of iPhones and Apple Watches from stores all over Western Washington and Oregon.

They hit the AT&T store on 172nd in the Smokey Point area of the city of Marysville earlier this week and stole approximately $5,000 worth of merchandise from the store. "Came in very quickly, seem to be taking the iPhones, iPhone watches, those types of things, moved in, took the items very quickly. They yanked those items from the security devices in the store, they take the whole thing, the wiring and everything and then they’re quickly right back out of the store," said Marysville Police Det. Chris Jones.

In that case, one customer got hurt. "A customer who was inside the store attempted to stop one of the males who was fleeing the store. They ended up getting tangled up, the customer goes to the floor, at which time it appears that another one of the suspects steps-on, or stomps-on the customer, his ankle, which resulted, we believe, it’s possibly a fractured foot," said Det. Jones.



The suspects also stole about $6,000 worth of cell phones and did $600 in damage at the T-Mobile store in Snohomish. "Saturday afternoon, our T-Mobile store here on Ave. D, three suspects came into the store, lingered in the store for about 30 seconds and then immediately grabbed as many display phones as they could get a hold of, ripped them out of the wall and took off running," said Sgt. Nathan Alanis with Snohomish Police.

Detectives say they got away in a black Mitsubishi Galant with Washington state license plate BOB1507, that was registered to a woman out of our area. They are following up on the information.

"The way that it’s happening, it seems that it’s escalating. I’m worried that they’re kind of getting a thrill out of what’s happening and I’m afraid of what’s the next step, you know, when stealing phones isn’t enough are they going to turn to robberies or something more violent?" said Sgt. Alanis.

Detectives say their pattern is to hit on back-to-back days after going two to three days without a robbery. "These guys are out as part of a larger group, probably the guys that are going out and actually doing the work, but we’re not really sure what they’re doing with the phones or the devices, it sounds to me like these phones are set into a display mode, however it doesn’t mean that they’re not going out and selling these phones to unsuspecting customers, or buyers off OfferUp, or Facebook Marketplace, or something like that and they’re getting a phone and then finding out it actually doesn’t work, so that could be a possibility as well," said Det. Jones.

Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 if you can identify any of these suspects. Call 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), or use the P3 Tips App on your cell phone to submit the information anonymously. You can also go to www.P3Tips.com.