$12,000 in cellphones, merchandise stolen from Metro PCS

Milton police are investigating a burglary that left a store missing more than $12,000 worth of merchandise.

The Metro PCS store on Windward Parkway was robbed Tuesday evening after it closed at 10 p.m.

Store owner Anthony Hanne reported the robbery Wednesday morning, according to a police report.

Hanne told officers he received calls from the store’s alarm company on Tuesday evening but ignored them, knowing the power company had been working in the area around that time and the store had lost power.

Police said in the report they received three alerts from the alarm company about 1 a.m.

“[The security company] called us so late that they didn’t get a response from us, so they sent the police,” store employee Micah Lowrey said. “But when the police got there they didn’t see anything.”

When Hanne arrived to work the next morning, he noticed that several phones and SIM cards were missing from the stock room.

Authorities saw no signs of forced entry on the store’s main or back doors, but investigators found evidence of force on the door leading to the stock room.

“They kicked in the door and stole the cell phones,” Lowrey said. “At least that’s what it looks like.”

The store’s surveillance camera was disabled around 10 p.m. on Tuesday and came back online at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Metro PCS district manager Jana Klebacha told officers that the surveillance system operates separately from the store’s power system and has its own backup battery.

“They walked through Panera’s drive-thru, so they got them on camera,” Lowrey said. “You could see one guy’s face, but the other three had hoodies on.”