DPD Investigating "Fraudulent Device Transfer" Phone Theft

The Dalton Police Department is asking for the public’s help to identify a man who posed as a T-Mobile employee to steal two cell phones from a Dalton store. The suspect claimed he was transferring the phones to a different T-Mobile location.

The incident happened in July at the Walnut Avenue T-Mobile store. A man claiming to work for another T-Mobile store and asked if the store had extra phones to transfer to his location. This is a common practice for stores when they run low on inventory to replenish supplies. The suspect arrived a short time later wearing a T-Mobile shirt and name tag with the name “Tay” and identified himself as “Tai.” When a Dalton store employee gave the suspect two iPhone 12 Pro Max phones and then asked him to verify which store he works for. Instead, the suspect quickly left the store and fled the scene in a blue BMW sedan with a Georgia license plate. The tag number was not visible in store surveillance. The two stolen iPhones are valued at $1,100 each or $2,200 total.

The suspect is a Black male who wore a black T-Mobile t-shirt and name tag with jeans and white sneakers. He also wore a black face mask and a black baseball cap backwards. Pictures of the suspect and his vehicle are included below. Anyone who knows the suspect is asked to please contact Detective Charles Williams at 706-278-9085, extension 9-280.

Below: The suspect and his vehicle were recorded by store surveillance