One Stolen Phone Puts an End to 6 Violent Robberies in Texas
A string of violent robberies was finally put to a stop after police located the 50-year-old Austin culprit.
50-year-old Gregory Sterling stepped inside a Cricket Wireless store in Austin as the store was nearing closing time. He pretended to be a customer when suddenly, Sterling pulled out a gun and forced the employee to the ground. He shoved the gun into the woman's head and demanded she opens the registers.
A STRING OF VIOLENT ROBBERIES
Over the next few days, Sterling continued his violent crime spree, hitting five more stores. In all the robberies, Sterling went in close to closing time and pretended to be a customer.
- During two robberies he dragged an employee by the hair.
- During three robberies he pistol-whipped an employee
- In all robberies, he took a phone, cash, or both.
SEALING HIS FATE
Sterling sealed his fate during his last robbery. He stole a phone that had GPS tracking enabled, which allowed investigators to track down his physical location.
On March 8th, police got their final ping from one of Sterling's stolen phones. Sterling was located inside a vehicle as a passenger. Police made pulled the vehicle over, identified Sterling, and made the arrest.
As police searched around, they were able to locate more stolen phones and devices inside the vehicle and inside Sterling's residence.
Sterling is charged with six counts of Aggravated Robbery with a Deadly Weapon.
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