Officers bust 26 in cellphone store holdups
Violent robberies tied to Crips gang affiliate; more suspects sought in joint investigation
A group accused of staging a rash of violent cellphone store robberies in northeast Harris County and Houston is affiliated with the notorious Crips street gang, authorities said.
On Wednesday, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman announced the arrests of 24 adults and two juveniles charged in the holdups of at least 20 area stores.
The string of robberies attributed to the gang is thought to have begun in September 2014 with the most recent being the June 18 holdup of a business in the 11800 block of Airline, officials said.
The robbers would demand cash and expensive merchandise from employees and customers after storming the stores.
“They threatened to kill them if they were given phones that had tracker devices in them,” said Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman.
Detectives said they are part of a Crips-affiliated gang called ABM, short for “All ’bout Money.”
The case was the result of a joint investigation between the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Houston Police Depart-
ment.
Those arrested range in age from about 14 to 24. The charges range from aggravated robbery to aggravated assault on a peace officer after a Houston police officer was fired at during a holdup in April at a cellphone store in the Kingwood area, officials said.
Investigators began to suspect the crimes were connected and directed by someone behind the scenes after questioning those who were later taken into custody.
“These individuals kept coming up, every single time — different stores and different suspects but the same organizers,” said Harris County Sheriff ’s Sgt. Mauro Alvarado. “
Detectives identified the alleged ringleader as Terrence Edwards, 24, known as “T-Streetz.” His alleged second-in-command is Quinton Malbrough, 23, or “Quin-Quin.”
“They didn’t actually commit the robberies. They just planned it,” Alvarado said.
Sometimes robbers would hit two stores in a single day. The gang was getting away with up to $60,000 in stolen merchandise each time. Detectives said Edwards recruited the robbers and, most importantly, had the connection with people who would buy the stolen phones.
“They were making a large amount of money on these robberies,” said sheriff’s Detective Ben Katrib.
The investigators did not give details about the “fences,” people who bought the stolen cellphones, because the case is continuing.
“We’ve broken up this ring, but we’re hoping to get them as well,” Alvarado said.
Deputies alleged that Edwards and Malbrough would plan the holdups and wait outside as lookouts. The gang members who went inside with guns drawn, called “crash dummies” on the streets, were paid about $1,000 for each stickup.
In addition to the cash, deputies said each successful robbery under their belt would give them additional “street cred.”
“You start out as a ‘crash dummy,’ and then you work your way up,” Katrib said.
Although the ring was primarily focused on the north and northeast Harris County area, detectives said they have directly linked them to a cellphone store robbery in Sulphur, La.
The two suspected ringleaders, Edwards and Malbrough, remain in custody at the Harris County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
Deputies said they are continuing to search for more suspects and predicted up to a dozen more arrests.
Anyone with information about the robbery ring is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713reflects