Armed Robbers Strike at Dacula Cell Phone Store

Two armed men stole thousands of dollars worth of phones and iPads during an Aug. 18 armed robbery at the in the Kroger shopping center on Dacula Road.

According to the incident report, Gwinnett County Police arrived at the store just 45 seconds after the suspects fled. The employee on duty at the time of the robbery said two male suspects entered the store shortly after noon. One of the suspects started to ask the employee about phones while the other suspect looked at an iPad display.  As the first suspect approached the employee, he reportedly pulled a silver, small frame revolver out of his pocket and pointed it at the employee. When the employee looked up, he noticed the other suspect had pulled a hoodie over his head and was wearing sunglasses and a bandana over his face. The second suspect was armed with a black semi-automatic pistol.

The employee said the first suspect gave him 30 seconds to open the cash drawer. When the employee was not immediately able to open the drawer, the suspects allegedly forced him into the back room and asked him where the phones were kept. After the employee said the phones were stored under the counter, the suspects escorted him back to the front of the store. The second suspect pulled a 55-gallon garbage bag out of his pocket and ordered the employee to put the phones in the bag. One of the suspects then shoved the employee towards the cash register and again ordered him to open it allegedly saying, “You have 15 seconds to open the drawer or I’ll put 15 bullets in your ass.”

The employee was able to open the drawer and handed over the contents, which included just over $80 in cash. As the victim was placing the money in the bag, the second suspect reportedly grabbed two iPads and put those in the bag as well.

The employee said the first suspect struck him in the head with the barrel of his revolver as the other suspect ran out of the back of the store. The first suspect then left the store while keeping the revolver pointed at the employee.

Police canvassed the shopping center in an attempt to locate witnesses, but were unable to find anyone who could provide a good description of the suspects’ vehicle. Police were able to obtain images of the suspects from the surveillance video. The surveillance video, which had been posted on YouTube, was removed from the site on Aug. 20.

The total value of the merchanside taken during the robbery is listed as $13,505.

The case is listed as active.

Gwinnett County Police are currently investigating a . Since May 26, 2012, seven Gwinnett cell phone stores have been robbed -- six in unincorporated Norcross and one in unincorporated Lilburn. In each case, the robberies were committed by one or two armed suspects. It is not known if the Dacula robbery is connected to those incidents.

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