Broken storefront windows, stolen cell phones: burglarized cell phone stores have become a familiar sight for police all over South Florida.
Early Monday morning, back-to-back robberies occurred at two cell phone stores in Miami, located within a five-minute drive of each other. At the Simple Mobile Store on Northwest 7th Street, the owner told NBC 6 the thieves actually stole his entire safe, in which he had put his best products
for safekeeping. They got away with $50,000 worth of cell phones.
"The security camera wasn't working. They stole everything from the safe, and by the time police got here, it was too late, everything was gone, " he said. He asked that his name not be used.
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He said crooks target high-end cell phones like iPhone 5's and the Samsung Galaxies because they can resell them in South America for double the price. His store has empty shelves on Monday.
A few blocks away at the T-Mobile store on Flagler Street, the manager said the bad guys smashed the front window with a vehicle but only got away with about $7,000 in cell phones because they couldn't steal the safe. It was just too big.
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Police recovered a stolen truck, which they believe may have been involved in at least one of the phone store robberies. Detectives are investigating the strong possibility that both crimes were committed by the same group of thieves.
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The owner of Simple Mobile said this is the second time he's been the victim. Thieves broke into his previous location, too.
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