Two men are arrested after reportedly robbing 11 Metro PCS stores in three months at gunpoint.
Phoenix police report that from March 31 to June 22, two suspects robbed multiple Metro PCS stores in Central Phoenix, getting over $3,800 in cash and a computer.
Witnesses told police one of the suspects was armed with a silver handgun during the robberies. During one robbery, at a Metro PCS store near 16th Street and Thomas, a store clerk told the suspects they had no cash in the store. To which one of the suspects replied, “You have no money? You are Metro PCS!"
During another robbery, a suspect reportedly told a store clerk, "God Bless you," saying he was robbing the store for his family.
The suspects, identified as 40-year-old Reid Allen DeWitt and 47-year-old Ralph James Tarin, were captured on June 22. Undercover officers were conducting surveillance on Metro PCS stores and witnessed Tarin leaving the store, near 27th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, after a robbery.
Police stopped their car near 24th Street and Buckeye where they caught Tarin. Dewitt took off in the car and was caught a few miles away. Police say they found a CO2 powered handgun in the car.
Police say Tarin is on probation for drug convictions while DeWitt is on federal parole for bank robbery.
Dewitt received a $100,000 bond and Tarin received a $150,000 bond. Both have been indicted on multiple counts of armed robbery, kidnapping, and aggravated assault.
