Cell phone shop asks for public's help to find suspects who stole iPhones

CTV Ottawa: Brazen grab and go theft Security camera capture theft at a west end mall, as cell phones are taken from a kiosk.

A cell phone store at the Lincoln Fields' mall is asking for the public's help to identify suspects it says made away with four stolen iPhones.

"They look at the phones and they take off," says Joel Ebeye, owner of AZ Wireless in the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre.

Ebeye feels his booth is being targeted. Surveillance video captures two incidents of the same young black men scouting the area, approaching the counter and asking to see the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. While looking at them, one man runs off with two of them in tow.

"They were speaking in French while I was showing them the phones, so I don't know what they were talking about and I think that's why they asked me before if I spoke French or not," says Kriti Bhaskar, who was on duty durin the first theft.

The incidents happened less than a week apart with the first on April 18, then the second on April 23rd. Ebeye believes it's the sam man and group involved.

"Two of them, or one of them would come into the mall, they spend about 15 minutes around the kiosk and around the mall to see who's there, who's coming in and out," Ebeye says.

Each time, both an iPhone 6S and 6S Plus were stolen. They were both unlocked, not set to a specific carrier, meaning they can't be blacklisted. AZ Wireless has now put tracking devices on all new iPhones and initialized iCloud locks.

Ottawa Police confirm they're investigating the thefts, saying they're connected and may have a suspect in mind.

The shop is offering a $500 reward for any information that leads to the arrest of the suspects.