Two armed and masked men stole 100 phones from a T-Mobile store along Oakland Park Boulevard on Monday, but were later detained, authorities said.
The two men apparently put their masks on outside the store, and a witness saw them.
The robbery occurred at 881 East Commercial Blvd. a little after 10 a.m. Both men went into the store with their weapons drawn, and ordered the employees to a back room, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.
They proceeded to loot the storage room for cell phones, BSO spokeswoman Dani Moschella said.
Detectives said the duo got away in a silver four-door Honda or Toyota, but they were soon tracked down and detained at a home in Deerfield Beach.
Robbing mobile phone stores has become popular, Moschella said. In one recent case, two men were arrested for an armed robbery at a Deerfield Beach AT&T store last month, the BSO said.
"These are very opportunistic criminals who have found something that works for them," Moschella said of such cases. "They go in, they intimidate these employees, they frighten them with guns, and they order them to hand over these cell phones, and then they're out. It just takes a matter of minutes."
