Investigation underway after robbery of cellphone store

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – The A International cellphone store on Woodforest Boulevard near the Beltway in east Harris County has been open for a month and the store owner tells Local 2 he's already been robbed twice.

"It is very frustrating and it's very hard for us. We might close it down, not because we are scared it's just because of my employees lives. It's not worth it," he said.

Surveillance cameras caught Monday's armed robbery. One of the robbers, believed to be 15 or 16 years old, pretended to be shopping for a phone. His accomplice stormed into the store and pointed a gun at the 21-year-old female store clerk. She was the only person in the store.

The armed robber was wearing a hoodie and his face wasn't visible because he was wearing a ski mask. The pair got away with cash from the register and one iPhone.

"For just a couple of hundred dollars they would have just shot and killed somebody. It's not worth it," the owner said.

The white sedan that the robbers left in was spotted by a patrol officer a few blocks away. Two teenagers were standing by it. Deputies surrounded the house where the car was parked, went inside with K-9 officers and detained three more people.

They were unable to identify the two involved in the robbery and released all five after questioning.

"The main culprits must have run out the back door. That's what we assume," said Detective M. Alvarado,with the Harris County Sheriff's Office Robbery Division.

The cellphone store owner has a message for the crooks: "Get a job, get a life and grow up, that's all I can say," he said.

The suspects wanted in Monday's robbery may be linked to more than a dozen similar robberies across east Harris County.


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