Southfield

Man ties up clerk, robs cellphone store

By Jessica Strachan
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Police are looking for a robbery suspect caught on tape. Police are looking for a robbery suspect caught on tape.

A local cellphone store was robbed at gunpoint just after opening Friday morning.

At 9:05 a.m. Feb. 1, a suspect entered the Verizon Wireless at the Cellular Connection on 10 Mile Road stole cash and iPhones. Before leaving, the man tied the clerk’s hands behind her back and left her lying on the floor.

According to the press release issued by Lt. Nick Loussia of the Southfield Police Department, the victim was the sole employee working at the store. The suspect was caught on the surveillance camera, and Loussia said he forced the clerk to comply.

“(He) pointed a silver semi-automatic handgun at her and demanded that she give him all the money from the cash register,” he noted. The clerk complied and was ordered to retrieve the iPhones, which she confessed to the man were locked inside a safe in the back room.

After getting six iPhones from her, the suspect used a zip tie to secure her wrists together.

“The suspect then made the clerk lie down on the floor and told her not to make any noise,” the release explained, indicating that it took about half an hour for the clerk to free herself form the zip tie.

Fearing that the robber may still be in the store, she used her cellphone to send a text message to her boss in a cry for help. It was the supervisor who contacted Southfield police, according to Loussia.

The woman suffered minor abrasions on her wrist from the zip ties. Because of the delay in reporting the crime, officers who arrived at the scene were not able located the suspect.

Southfield authorities are currently investigating the incident and are calling on the public’s help to identify the suspect.

He has been identified as a black man, around 30 years old, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a medium build. He was wearing a dark winter jacket, dark pants, a dark knit cap and glasses.

Anyone with information about this crime should contact the Southfield Police Department at (248) 796-5500.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jessica Strachan at jstrachan@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1108.