Police search for apologetic cellphone store robbery suspects

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — Gwinnett police are looking for two men who duct-taped and pepper-sprayed cellphone store employees during a robbery.
 
It happened on May 18^th at the new Verizon store on Centerville Highway in Snellville. Right after opening, surveillance shows the two young men walk into the store and lead two employees back to a cellphone vault.
 
The victims told police that one of the men said, "I don't want to hurt you," and, "I just want the phones," but the other suspect pepper-sprayed the employees.

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The first suspect questions his partner in crime and apologizes to the victims. You even see that man helping to wipe the victims' faces off with paper towels.

Before the two men ran out of the store, they duct-taped the employees and bagged 65 devices from the vault. The total value was more than $30,000.

The manager of the store told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that they’d been open for about a month, and the company is giving the employees as much leave as they need to recover from the frightening robbery.

“Though these two suspects weren’t armed with the norm of a handgun, they’re still a danger to the community, and we’d like to get them off the streets as quickly as possible,” said Corporal Deon Washington, a spokesman for the Gwinnett County Police Department.

The men are described as skinny, in their early 20s, and wearing black baseball caps and face paint at the time of the robbery. One suspect is about 6’0", while the other stands at 5’7".

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Gwinnett County Police Robbery Unit at 770-513-5300, or Crimestoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477). You can also report an anonymous tip at

under case number 16-045306.

Cox Media Group