Metro PCS stores on alert after another armed robbery

Employees at Metro PCS stores are on alert after another store was robbed Thursday night.

Police said it happened late Thursday at the store on Beach Boulevard.

Police said the robber pulled a gun on Daniela Mena, the cashier.

"The guy came in yesterday all quiet. Got to counter, and said, 'Give me your money,'" said Mena.

Mena apparently isn't the only victim. Employees at the Beach Boulevard location said they were also robbed a month ago.

Channel 4 has also covered other robberies at several Jacksonville Metro PCS stores.

Channel 4 Crime Analyst Ken Jefferson said that store owners need to start thinking about why the robbers are targeting the phone stores.

"When you have a rash of robberies at the same business, there obviously is an attraction that's drawing these robbers to this particular place other than money," said Jefferson.

"They are taking money, telephones, taking accessories, taking all these things. For one reason, simply, because they have a high resale value on the streets. They can get rid of the stuff and make top dollar on these phones that they can steal out of these places and they are very hard to trace," he added.

Jefferson said if the businesses continue to be robbed, stores may see less customers.

"They might not frequent them as much. They may not go into these places because they don't want to put themselves in a position where they might become a victim of a robbery," said Jefferson.

Mena said she had heard of other armed robberies at Metro PCS stores, but doesn't know why they are being targeted.

Mena said most stores have very little cash on hand. Employees at Metro PCS regularly do "cash drops" to keep a minimum amount of cash in the store.

"You don't have certain amounts of money here because we don't want to have thousands here," said Mena. "Better to not have $1,500. We want to have $100, $150 rather than $1,500."