Thieves steal more than 100 cellphones and tablets, prompting warning from police

After thieves stole more than 100 cellphones and tablet computers from two Sprint stores, the Raytown Police Department are warning people to be careful where they buy their new devices.

Raytown police are warning that the stolen items are locked and cannot be activated, making the devices unusable. They are cautioning people about buying cellphones and iPads from anyone off the street, on social media and online.

The thefts occurred during burglaries earlier this week at the Sprint store in the 9500 block of East Missouri 350 and a few miles away in Kansas City.

Police responded to a business alarm at the Sprint store about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Upon arrival, officers discovered that the front glass door had been shattered and the business had been burglarized.

Management told police that about 20 minutes before the burglary, a Sprint store a few miles away in Kansas City had been burglarized in the same way by what appeared to be the same thieves.

Shortly after midnight on Tuesday the same locations were burglarized again. This time, Sprint management called Raytown police, saying that they were watching the thieves burglarize the Raytown store via a live video feed.

By the time officers arrived a few moments later, the thieves had fled.

Police discovered that more than 100 iPhone 7s, Samsung Galaxy S8s and iPads had been stolen.

Police released two photos taken from security video at the time of the crime hoping that people would identify the thieves.

Anyone with information about the thefts are asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. Police also are asking people to call the TIPS Hotline if approached to purchase any of the stolen items.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Thieves steal more than 100 cellphones and tablets, prompting warning from police."