Thieves pretend to be customers before stealing €29,000 worth of phones

If you’ve ever looked at the rows of expensive mobile phones sitting out in the open in a phone shop, you may have wondered the same thing I have: why doesn’t someone just grab them and run? After all, there can be thousands of euros’ worth of phones sitting there, seemingly within easy reach. So there must be a reason why we don’t hear about people walking into phone shops and simply clearing the displays.

Well, it turns out the answer may be rather less complicated than you think: most people simply don’t try. Three people in southern Spain have now been arrested after allegedly doing exactly that, stealing mobile phones worth more than €29,000 in a string of thefts across Sevilla and Córdoba. And their method was remarkably simple: walk into the shop like an ordinary customer, wait until staff are distracted, rip the phones from their security mounts and run.

Four phones and a quick getaway

The investigation began in July after four high-end mobile phones were stolen from a shop in La Rinconada, Sevilla, while it was open. According to the Guardia Civil, the suspects entered the premises pretending to be customers and looked at the phones on display.

They paid particular attention to the more expensive models before waiting for a moment when the shop assistant was distracted. They then used force to remove four phones from their security systems and fled the shop. The stolen devices were worth around €4,500. For the shop, that could have been the end of the matter. Instead, the same business was allegedly targeted again.

They came back for 13 more

Around a month later, the suspects allegedly returned to the La Rinconada shop. This time, they are accused of taking 13 mobile phones, worth around €3,900 in total. The Guardia Civil says the same method was used, with the phones removed from their security mounts before the suspects escaped. The repeated attacks gave investigators more information to work with and helped them look for links to other mobile phone thefts.

The investigation eventually connected the suspects with a similar incident in Puente Genil, Córdoba, on August 2. The Guardia Civil now attributes eight thefts to the three suspects, involving mobile phones worth more than €29,000 altogether.

Members of the public helped identify them 

Investigators from the Guardia Civil’s Area of Investigation in La Rinconada began gathering information about the people allegedly involved and the vehicles being used to get away. Descriptions supplied by members of the public proved useful. Investigators were able to compare information about the suspects’ appearance and the vehicles with evidence already gathered during the investigation.

Officers subsequently identified two of the members of the group and obtained information about the vehicle they were using. That helped them establish links with the Córdoba theft and build a case against the three suspects. The Guardia Civil has not released individual details of all eight alleged thefts, so the cases already described do not account for the entire €29,000-plus total.

Three people arrested

The three suspects have now been arrested and brought before the judicial authorities. A judge has ordered all three to be remanded in prison. They are being investigated for alleged offences including aggravated theft, criminal damage and membership of a criminal group. The criminal damage allegation relates to the force allegedly used to remove the phones from their security systems.

The investigation remains open, and the Guardia Civil says it has not ruled out linking the suspects to further thefts. There is something almost oddly reassuring about the story’s opening question. Those phones really are sitting there in shops, attached to security systems that can apparently be torn away with enough force. The difference, it seems, is that most people looking at them are there because they want to buy one, rather than wondering how quickly they can get out of the shop with thirteen.