Video catches elaborate robbery of $30K worth of cellphones in Snellville

Police are trying to identify the man they said was caught on video crawling on his belly trying to dodge motion detectors and stole $30,000 worth of cellphones.

Investigators said the man broke into the business next door to the T-Mobile store off Scenic Highway in Snellville and cut three larges holes in the wall.

"This guy goes in when they are closed. He's very strategic and goes through the sheet rock," explained Detective James McDonald with the Snellville Police Department.

After slipping through one of the large holes he cut, the man then crawled his way to his first stop inside the store.
"He did attempt to get into the safe, but was unsuccessful," told Channel 2's Craig Lucie.

Police said the robber broke into the this T-Mobile store off of Scenic Highway in Snellville

Next, the man grabbed bolt cutters and sliced through a cage with dozens of expensive smart phones. But not before taking care of business on his smartphone, fielding two calls and a text.

"We can use that technology to track it back," McDonald said.

McDonald said more criminals are targeting the phones because they are getting more expensive and easy to sell. He said the stolen phones could pop up anywhere.

"A lot of times they can go on Craigslist, they can go on eBay, or they can be shipped overseas, repackaged and then sold," McDonald said.

That leads to another problem for buyers. People buy the new phones off eBay because they are looking for a deal.

One way to make sure the phone you're buying is not stolen is by checking the Equipment Serial Number.

You can then enter the ESN into websites like www.checkmend.com, which will do a background check on the phone.