Violent armed robbery at cell phone store caught on camera

Police are on the hunt for a dangerous criminal in an armed robbery caught on camera.

“Let’s stop this mess and get him arrested. Let’s get him behind bars,” Spring store owner Robert Hartline said.

It’s difficult to watch, but Hartline is sharing surveillance video of Thursday night’s violent armed robbery in hopes it’ll lead to the gunman’s arrest.

“I hope someone is watching this, maybe it’s a neighbor, maybe it’s a friend they work with,” he said.

Someone who will recognize the unidentified man who entered the store on Fairington Road in Lithonia at around 8:30 Thursday night.

In the video, you see him approach the counter, then ambush the clerk. The gun is drawn. He forces the woman to a back room where he encounters the second worker. He forces one woman to the floor while ordering the other to empty the safe. The gunman escapes through a back door, making off with several bags of smartphones.

“As he opens the door the bag busts open so he frantically tries to put the phones in a shopping cart and carry on his way,” Hartline said.

Both employees were badly shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Hartline hopes someone will recognize the gunman and turn him into police.

“I hope they have a little bit of sympathy that they would not want that to happen to their sister, or their brother, or their family,” he said.