Men accused of tying up cellphone store employee, robbing 10 stores indicted
Two men accused of robbing at least 10 cellphone stores throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area — and tying up at least one employee — have been indicted on federal charges.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement officers have been tracking Eric Parrish and Komla Detsikou since November, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
Each robbery the men are accused of committing was similar: One of them would point a gun at employees and demand access to the safe where new cellphones are stored. Both men would wear masks — sometimes Mardi Gras-style masks.
While they’re suspected of at least 10 robberies, the indictment only goes into detail about four.
The first happened on Dec. 9 at the AT&T store at 5900 S. Hulen St. in Fort Worth. A third person who has not been identified was with Parrish and Detsikou, according to the indictment.
All three went inside the store wearing masks. One of them pointed a gun at two employees and forced them to the back of the store. After taking phones, they left in a Hyundai Genesis.
On Jan. 30, Parrish and Detsikou are accused of robbing the AT&T at 5618 E. Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, documents say. The robbers forced a witness into the back of the store and made him open a locker where the phones were stored.
After grabbing about 20 phones, the robbers ran to a white Chrysler 200 that was parked nearby, according to the document. The car had a temporary tag.
Investigators found that the car was purchased from Magic Auto Sales by Parrish’s girlfriend, the document says. Investigators were also able to trace Parrish and Detsikou’s cellphones to the area of the AT&T at the time of the robbery, the document says.
The pair is also accused of robbing a Verizon Wireless store in Grand Prairie on Feb. 8. They tied an employee with flex-ties during the robbery, according to the documents.
They were arrested on Feb. 28 after agents followed them to an AT&T store in Corinth. Once they parked their car in the store’s lot, agents detained them, the document says.
They’ve been jailed since their arrests.
Police found a black ski mask, gloves and a loaded handgun in the car, the documents say.
Both men were indicted Wednesday on several charges each of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, aiding and abetting interference with commerce by robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
