VAN BUREN (KFSM) -- Police are investigating after the Verizon Wireless in Van Buren was broken into early Thursday morning (Nov. 9).
According to police, at 4:30 a.m. two black male suspects threw a large rock through the front window of the store.
Police said the two suspects spent a very short amount of time in the store, but were able to steal over $10,000 worth of merchandise from the front display. This included iPads, iPhones, Apple Watches and other electronics. Investigators said an inventory list of what was taken did not include any iPhone X's.
The suspects then left in a small 4-door passenger car. Officers are working to get surveillance video from the scene and surrounding businesses to learn more.
Local experts said the phones taken from the store are pretty much useless to the suspects when it comes to activating them, and they are easy to track from the carrier and manufacturer.
"There is a way to lock the device so it is never usable and that is through contacting your carrier and letting them know," said Aaron Price, owner of Gadget Grave in Fort Smith.
Price said even though his store works with local police to keep stolen phones out of his store, because there's a criminal market for stolen devices.
"Whether it gets parted out, it's a problem for sure," Price said. "Or they send them overseas where the carrier doesn't necessarily check the international locks, and so that's a way they don't necessarily have AT&T or Verizon, and so they can activate them on different carriers."
Anyone with information about this crime can contact Detective Jonathan Wear at 479-471-5095.
Stay with 5NEWS as this story continues to develop.
