Cell Phone Store Robberies Leave Residents Fearing For Their Lives

A string of cell phone store robberies has left the residents of Surrey, British Columbia fearing for their lives. According to ABC News, three cell phone stores have been robbed by individuals armed with not only handguns, but also Tasers and machetes.

Surrey’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed Saturday that they are investigating a series of robberies that have targeted multiple cell phone stores in the area. According to CTV News Vancouver, the only piece of evidence that police have to work with are store surveillance videos from the three stores. Both employees and business owners are reportedly on edge as the investigation gets underway.

Narrinder Jaswal, an employee of Wireless World located on 128 Street and 96 Avenue, told CTV News Vancouver that he feared for his life as armed men walked into the store and forced him to unlock a merchandise cabinet before making off with thousands of dollars worth of smartphones.

“The gun never left their hand, ” said Jaswal. “It was always on the back of my head. He told me ‘Hey don’t make any sudden moves or you’re going to get popped in the head.’ When I was laying down facing the ground, I was just (thinking) ‘I hope these guys take whatever they want and leave me the h*ll alone.'”

According to ABC News, Rob Riah owns the three Wireless World cell phone stores that have been targeted by these armed robbers. “We’ve been robbed three times in two weeks,” Riah said. “I’m worried for my staff, I’m worried for my customers. Something needs to be done.” Jaswal agrees with the store owner, adding that “You (employees) don’t want to go to a workplace in broad daylight and have to worry about getting killed.

The first cell phone store robbery was reportedly one of the scariest of the three incidents as employees claimed that the individuals walked into the store armed with a machete, taser and other weapons. “They just took all the phones. They made us turn toward the wall and tied our legs and hands and just got everything,” said Vijay Ahuja, an employee working a the time the store was robbed.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have said that these robberies are a top priority and they are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects on the surveillance videos. “I don’t think anybody’s going to do anything until someone does get killed,” Jaswal said. “They’re not using little toy guns. They are using Tasers, they’re using real guns. We don’t know what they’re going to do.”

According to CTV News Vancouver, Riah is personally offering a $5,000 dollar reward to anyone who recognizes the suspects in the surveillance videos and who can give any information that leads to their arrest.

[Image via Shutterstock/Andrey Burmakin]