POLICE SUSPECT THEFT RING IS TARGETING PHONE STORES

5 businesses robbed in 24 hours include cellphone stores.

Five local businesses that carry cell phones were the target of robberies or break-ins between Wednesday and Thursday morning, leaving police to consider if

the crimes are connected to one another.

The thefts began around 12:30 p.m. We d ne s day, when two masked men, at least one with a gun, entered an AT&T store on Miamisburg-Centerville Road and stole cell phones and cash, according to police.

“This was well planned out. They thought about it in advance,” said Miami Twp. Sgt. Paul Nienhaus.

Nienhaus said the suspects arrived in the front of the store between 12:30 and 1 p.m. and were dropped off by a driver of a silver Hyundai Sonata with Kentucky license plates.

Around 20 people were inside the store when the two suspects entered, witnesses said.

The FBI has been contacted about this robbery because authorities are looking into whether it is linked to others, Nienhaus said.

“There’s a thought that it might be part of a ring,” because other crimes are similar, “and based on the method of operation, we suspect they’re probably part of

the same ring,” Nienhaus said Thursday.

Dayton police responded to a break-in at a Boost Mobile store on Linden Avenue around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The store manager said she didn’t believe anything of value had been taken, though it appeared display cases were rummaged through and a smart watch was possibly missing, according to a police report.

Then, around 1 a.m. Thursday police responded to two separate break-ins in Huber Heights and Riverside.

Both Metro PCS in the 5100 block of Brandt Pike and Rent-a-Center in the 4900 block of Airway had front windows smashed. Police said they will look at secu- rity footage to determine if anything was taken.

Shortly after the break-ins in Huber Heights and Riverside, a break-in was reported in Kettering.

Kettering Police Sgt. Brad Lambert said police, aware of

the break-ins in Huber Heights and Riverside, started checking stores around the city for criminal activity.

“When it does happen, it typically happens in multiple jurisdictions in one night,” Lambert said.

Police came upon the break-in