Robber said he needed to make brother’s bail

A man entered an AT&T Store in Lehigh County on Thursday, used pliers to snip free iPhones from a display rack and then fled the store, telling employees he needed to make bail money for his brother, state police said.

Initially reported as a robbery, state police described the 2:42 p.m. incident as a retail theft in a news release.

The store is at 1874 Airport Road at the Shoppes at Airport Center in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, police said.

Police said the suspect, described as a black man in his 20s with a neck tattoo, took four cellphones, valued at $8,000, in full view of employees, and when he was confronted, he told them he needed to make his brother's bail.

The robber fled on foot.

Police said that a similar theft involving the same suspect happened 45 minutes earlier at an AT&T Store in East Greenville in Montgomery County.

In that theft, police said, the man fled in a gray Audi sedan with out-of-state license plates with “700” as the last digits.

The suspect is described as about 6-foot-1, 185 pounds wearing a black winter hat, black jacket, blue jeans and yellow sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to contact trooper Barton Josefowicz at 610-807-3359 about incident number PA2019 40122.

— Manuel Gamiz Jr.