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Armed Robber Ties Up T-Mobile Store Employees, Flees With More Than 100 Phones

ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) -- A man took off with more than a hundred cells phones when he robbed a T-Mobile store at gunpoint in northwest suburban Elgin on Thursday – a crime captured on surveillance video.

Wielding a handgun, the man entered the store in the 200 block of South Randall Road about 1 p.m. Thursday.

Police described the suspected robber as a black man in his 40s, 6 feet and 150 pounds, wearing a white construction hat, a Carhartt-style jacket and sunglasses, police said.

He struck a clerk in the head with the gun, then ordered the clerk and another employee to go into the back of the store, where he then tied them together, Elgin police said in a statement.

He took an unknown amount of money from the register and more than a hundred cell phones in bags, Elgin Police Cmdr. Glenn Theriault said, adding that store employees were in the process of determining the total dollar amount of the loss.

"That's a serious crime," Theriault told CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli.

After the man left the store, the employees were able to untie themselves and call 911, the statement said, adding that neither needed medical treatment. Both said they were glad they survived the ordeal.

Anyone with information should call police at (847) 289-2600 or by text to 847411 with "ELGINPD" typed at the beginning.

Contributing: Sun-Times Media Wire. (Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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