A shopper who walked into a business on Plank Road acting like he wanted to buy a cellphone instead walked out with two of them, snatching one straight out of a clerk's hand before bolting on foot. Baton Rouge police detectives are now trying to figure out who he is.
According to WAFB, the incident happened Oct. 19 at a business in the 3900 block of Plank Road. Investigators believe the suspect entered the store pretending to be interested in purchasing a cellphone, a ruse that put him close enough to the merchandise to make his move.
When the clerk stepped away to the stockroom and came back with a phone for him to look at, the suspect snatched it right out of her hand, the station reports. He then grabbed a second phone off the counter before taking off on foot toward Mohican Street, according to investigators. The clerk was not injured during the encounter.
A Familiar Address on Plank Road
This isn't the first time police have asked the public to help identify someone who targeted a business in that same stretch of Plank Road. Last December, detectives were searching for a man accused of robbing a convenience store in the 3900 block, just before midnight on Dec. 30, 2025, as reported by WBRZ.
In that case, police said the suspect also posed as a customer, approaching the counter with an item before demanding money at gunpoint. He then fled the store on foot, heading northbound on Plank Road, and police believed at the time that he was responsible for other nearby robberies. The evidence does not establish any connection between that armed robbery and October's phone-snatching case, and the two incidents remain separate investigations.
How to Help
No description of the October suspect has been released, and it remains unclear whether either of the stolen phones has been recovered. Anyone with information about the suspect's identity or the ongoing investigation is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867.
