Police are looking for two men who held up several cellphone stores across the borough at gunpoint, including on Christmas Day, and stole hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise during the last two months.
On Dec. 25 at noon, the two suspects entered a Metro PCS at 97-14 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park. They forced three male employees, a male customer and a female posing as a customer into the back of the store, police said.
Once in the back, the female placed cellphones inside of a bag as one of the male suspects walked to the front of the store and removed cash from the register. According to police, a fourth male entered the store and removed cellphones from the displays.
The male suspect who remained in the back of the store placed his gun down and tied the 56-year-old male customer with duct tape. The three male employees, two 18-year-olds and a 21-year-old, then tackled the male suspect and subdued him.
The female suspect and the two males in the front fled the store into a car. The vehicle drove off eastbound on Queens Boulevard. The suspect who was tackled by the employees managed to flee the store in an unknown direction.
On Nov. 20 at 12:35 p.m., the men entered a Sprint store at 46-31 Greenpoint Ave. in Sunnyside. They approached a 22-year-old female employee, held out a gun and demanded cash and merchandise. She gave them 45 iPhones and $3,500 in cash, police said. The men fled the store toward 47th Street and there were no reported injuries.
On Dec. 3 at 5:35 p.m., two men walked into the cellphone retailer located at 86-16 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst, pulled out a gun and told customers to move to the back of the store. The duo stole $600 worth of merchandise from the store, police said.
A T-Mobile employee attempted to chase after the thieves and one of them discharged his weapon at the direction of the employee. No one was injured.
On Dec. 21 at 12:15 p.m., the men entered another Sprint store at 37-50 Junction Blvd. in Corona. One of the suspects displayed a firearm and forced a 29-year-old male store employee, a 21-year-old female store employee, a 43-year-old male customer and a 30-year-old female customer to the back of the store and bound them with tape.
The suspects took store merchandise and receipts including 218 electronic devices (iPhones, iPads and Samsung cellphones and tablets) and $800 in cash. They also took $700 cash from the 43-year-old male customer, $400 from the 30-year-old female customer, and $30 from the 21-year-old female employee.
The victims refused medical attention at the scene.
The first suspect is described as a black male standing approximately 6 feet, 1 inch tall, approximately 250 pounds with dreadlocks.
The second suspect is described as a black male, standing approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds.
The third suspect is described as a black female, last seen wearing a pink hat, a black scarf, a black coat and black pants.
The fourth suspect is described as a black male with glasses, last seen wearing a dark colored hooded sweater, a dark-colored jacket and dark-colored pants.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
