Ontario police catch up to suspected armed iPhone robbers in Downey

ONTARIO >> Two men are in custody after allegedly forcing a Verizon employee and a customer to hand over dozens of iPhones and then leading police on a chase that ended in a crash in Downey Wednesday moing.

An armed man entered the Verizon store at 2910 S. Archibald Ave., just after 9 a.m., a handgun and carrying duffle bags, said Sgt. Jess Higbee, Ontario Police Department spokesman.

“(The) suspect took an employee and a customer to the back and had them fill the bags with all iPhones from the safe,” he said.

The armed man reportedly ran off to a waiting light blue Mitsubishi with paper plates.

Officers pursued the vehicle to Downey, where it crashed into a curb, Higbee said. They jumped out of the disabled car and tried unsuccessfully to take another motorist’s vehicle, officials said.

Both men, identified as Changa Hicks, 22, and Joshua Brown, 25, both of Los Angeles, were taken into custody, police said.

No one was injured, and the stolen phones were recovered.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was edited to correct the day of the alleged crime.

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