A man posing as a customer pepper-sprayed a Cricket Wireless employee and made off with several boxes of cellphones, Cobb County police said in a news release Thursday.

About 1:45 p.m. May 6, the man walked inside the Brookwood Square location in the 3900 block of Austell Road.

“As the female clerk offered assistance, the male sprayed the female employee in the face with pepper spray,” Cobb County police Officer Sarah O’Hara said.

The man then reached over the counter and stole a cellphone, she said. Soon after, he went to the back of the store and stole several more cellphone boxes.

Police described him as having a beard and mustache, being between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot, and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds. He is believed to be between 30 and 40 years old.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cobb County police at 770-499-3945.

In other news:

The incident happened shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday and did not impact airport operations.

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Orange Crush event organizer Steven Smalls looks out at Tybee Island's South Beach, site of the 2025 HBCU spring break festival scheduled for April 19 on Georgia's coast. (Justin Taylor/The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

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