GameStop thief called ahead to ‘pre-order’ before robbing store
Police in Nashville, Tennessee are searching for a robber who held up a local GameStop video game store after reportedly, calling ahead with a 'pre-order' of what he wanted to steal. The brazen thief was caught on security video circling the store parking lot, driving a grey Nissan Versa in broad daylight, casing the retail location for an hour.
Nashville Police Detective Lieutenant Curtis Watkins told WTVF NewsChannel 5, “What we believe is that the suspect called in prior to going to the location and put in an order for a video game console and several video games.” Yep, that’s right. He called ahead and told the GameStop clerk that the items, an Xbox One console and the games Just Dance 2014, Call of Duty Ghost, and NBA 2K14, were for a gift for his child. He added that because he was on his way to work, he would need everything ready to go. “So he could go in and out as quickly as possible,” Lt. Watkins told WSMV Channel 4. ”It was just expediting the process for, the clerk thought it was a legitimate customer.”
After his call and just when the store opened, the suspect entered the GameStop and pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the clerk. He grabbed his ‘pre-ordered’ loot along with $600 cash from the register. He then told the clerk to lie on the ground face down, and ran out of the store.
In a phone interview, GameStop spokesperson Joey Mooring, told WTVF, "We are very extremely grateful that our store associate that was involved with the incident is safe and sound and they are ok, and we were very happy about that.” While the incident was unfortunate, Mooring said they are working closely with the police during their investigation.
The calculating robber is described as a black male, age 20-30, standing 5’8”-5’11”, and weighs anywhere from 200-250 pounds. Metropolitan Nashville Police are asking for the public’s help in finding the criminal, encouraging those with any information to contact Crimestoppers at (615) 74-CRIME.
