Three suspects were at large after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of mobile phones from a T-Mobile store in Orange on Monday night.
Police say the thieves targeted the store located on the 3300 block of E. Chapman Avenue around 6:15 p.m.
The suspects were caught on camera during the smash-and-grab robbery, seen snatching as many phones as they could hold, while ripping devices from store demonstration displays, Orange Police said.
“They went straight towards the iPhone display and started yanking on our iPhone demos,” store manager, Jonathan Villasenor, told OnScene.TV. “They knocked down our whole iPhone display, so that got damaged. Then they made their way over to the Samsung display and started yanking on our Samsungs.”
Villasenor estimates the thieves stole about $4,000 worth of merchandise during the burglary.
The two suspects were then seen running away from the store and fleeing in a getaway vehicle driven by a third male suspect, according to authorities.
The burglary occurred during business hours while customers were still shopping inside the store, with one customer quite “shaken up” over the incident, according to Villasenor.
He says thefts like this are common whenever new versions of iPhones are released.