KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police are looking for the suspects in a robbery at the Apple store on the Plaza caught on camera.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon at the Apple store at 227 Nichols Rd.
Three male suspects walked through the store snatching up electronics before running to a car.
On Monday, KCPD released clearer photos of the three brazen thieves and the getaway vehicle.
PlsRT: These 3 love Apple products! They love them so much that they took them from the Plaza location without paying...Hate when that happens! Do you know them, or have info? Call the Robbery Unit 816-234-5230, we also have phones they can use. pic.twitter.com/qqi5FGQnMz
— Kansas City Police (@kcpolice) April 23, 2018
There were numerous people inside the store at the time, some taking out their phones to record the incident.
“Maybe the thing they thought they had on their side was that there were several of them so people would kind of 'where is this going?'," Suzi Vietti, an Apple customer said.
"Looks like they've done it before," Christina McIntosh, co-owner of Setcell, a Westport cell phone store told 41 Action News.
Crooks have hit Mcintosh's store at least four times.
"They'll ask questions that just don't make sense," McIntosh said. "They'll target somebody who is a little bit too busy to focus on just them."
McIntosh said there's a thriving underground market for stolen phones because buyers are always looking for a bargain.
"I mean these guys paid nothing for the phone so they can make a pretty good profit margin," McIntosh said.
But she said the phones that Sunday's trio swiped are essentially expensive paperweights.
"Apple's phones are just display-phones. So, eventually, Apple can block the MEIs on those so whoever they can sell those to they are going to be completely useless," McIntosh said.
McIntosh explained to 41 Action News that each phone is assigned to a service provider.
"The new owner one day gets a 'no service' on the top of their phone. It will say 'no service' and that's when the carriers has kicked them off, put them on the blacklist," McIntosh said.
At Setcell, they've added extra security to the phones on sale.
"We have GPS coordinates on our phones, so, if they take off with them, we'll know who took off with them, where they are," McIntosh said.
If you recognize the suspects, call KCPD Robbery Unit at 816-234-5230 or the KC Tips Hotline 816-474-TIPS (8477).
