INDIANAPOLIS -- Police have one person in custody and are searching for a second person in connection with the theft of tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of phones throughout Central Indiana.
Police said the suspects were not only working together, but were cousins. The two struck every AT&T store throughout the county, some of them several times.
The suspects, Lonnie Morton and Terry Henton, had mastered the art of stealing cell phones, according to police.
Investigators said their crime spree began months ago when they targeted a far west side AT&T store, where they learned to disable the wire security tethers of phones on display.
Police said that it soon became easy to identify Morton and Henton as a team.
"They said something to the effect that 'I've got to feed my kids, I 'm sorry my kids are in the dark, I'm sorry my kids need food,' but every single incident that was muttered in some way at each incident,” IMPD Det. Larry Craciunoiu said.
Police said the pair targeted expensive Galaxy phones that retailed for as much as $500 a piece. The Castleton AT&T store had been targeted for thefts on three different occasions.
Metro Police said the pair targeted at least 15 AT&T stores throughout Indianapolis and Lawrence. Then police say, the suspects began hitting stores in Hamilton County, Hendricks County and Tippecanoe County.
Lafayette Police arrested Henton less than one minute and less than one block from an ATT&T store in Tippecanoe.
Police said the phones were more than likely sold to a middle man before they were shipped overseas. Police said they felt pressure to end the crime spree as soon as possible.
"If they were confronted by an employee or an officer as they were running out of the business, confronted by a customer, then I was worried about this escalating into an armed robbery or something far worse if this continued," Craciunoiu said.
Henton has been charged with robbery and is in custody in Tippencanoe County. Morton remains at large, charged with multiple counts of theft.
