Crime

Four men went in and out of a bathroom hole. In between, they cleared out a phone store

Cameras at a Miami store caught a band of thieves bagging over $4,000 in cellphones and cash. They then went into the bathroom and vanished.

Now, cops are asking you to help identify the crafty burglars.

Recently released surveillance video of the overnight theft shows four men — their faces covered — rummaging through The Global Cellulars Store, 2199 NW 20th St., late last month.

The store manager says they broke into the empty business space next door and made a hole into Global Cellulars’ bathroom. The alarm next to the bathroom never went off and was ripped out, he said.

The cameras caught the men throwing merchandise off the shelves into bags and rummaging through drawers and the cash register. One of them can be seen in the office, where he is said to have pocketed cash.

They then left through the bathroom hole, according to police.

The manager thinks they were waiting to see if the alarm would go off because an hour later, they were back in the store, stealing more merchandise.

They then tried to cover their tracks, closing the shutters of the empty business next door.

“From the outside, the store looked normal,” the manager said.

But, when he walked in, he found the alarm wasn’t working and the shelves bare.

He then found the hole in the bathroom.

“I was shocked,” he said.

In total, police say they stole over 450 cellphones and $4,000 from a safe.

The shop’s total loss?

$128,000 in merchandise and $4,500 in cash, according to the manager.

Anyone with information that can help police track down these suspects is asked to contact Miami Police Department’s Burglary Unit at 305-603-6030. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471- TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimestoppersmiami.com

Michelle Marchante
Miami Herald
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.  Support my work with a digital subscription
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