JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Five teens have been arrested in a series of robberies at Jacksonville GameStop stores that took place from Dec. 30, 2023 to Jan. 1, 2024.
The teens range from age 13 to age 17, police said.
Each robbery had an identical pattern, with the burglars driving stolen cars, ramming them into the front of the store (GameStop stores typically have glass front-facing walls) and then stealing from inside the store.
An incident report from a Dec. 30 robbery, which took place just after 3 a.m., describes a white Kia driving into the front of the GameStop on Normandy Boulevard. A green Kia then drove up to the scene, and the occupants of both scenes ran into the store, exiting with merchandise. They jumped into the green Kia and fled. Kias are notoriously easy to steal; the white Kia was later identified as a stolen car. It was later recovered and returned to the owner, who found a backpack, iPad and GameStop merchandise that didn't belong to her inside.
The report for this robbery said the value of merchandise stolen was estimated to be $5,000 and the damage caused to the store was estimated to cost $10,000.
Another smash-and-grab was reported at a GameStop store located at 6733 103rd Street at 3:37 a.m., with the burglars using the same routine. Police noted several PlayStation items had been stolen as well as other merchandised estimated to cost around $1,000.
An incident report from Jan. 1 describes a break-in at the GameStop at 9620 Applecross Road. The front windows and metal security door had been rammed in by a car and around $2,600 of merchandise had been stolen. The store was closed for New Years Day at the time.
Police say overall, the property stolen from the businesses totaled over $8,000 and the businesses incurred over $50,000 in costs.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters believes that the teens developed their plan after reading about burglaries online.
Just two days before the string of robberies in Jacksonville began, a robbery of the same type was reported at a GameStop in Memphis, Tennessee.
Teens were also recently arrested in nearby Clay County by driving a car into a smoke shop.
“Driving cars through business doors to gain entry during burglaries is part of a national trend that young people are learning about online. While it is extremely disappointing to see our youth using social media for self-education in criminal behavior, we cannot and will not tolerate crime in our community, even if those committing them are juveniles," Waters said.
First Coast News' Crime and Safety Expert Mark Baughman says GameStop had stores targeted across the country during the 2023 holiday season.
"You're talking about a small store that sells nothing but gaming equipment that you can easily get in and out of," Baughman said. "It's not like a Best Buy, it's not like a Walmart. Pretty much all of them have that big glass viewing area. They are in smaller type strip malls, they're accessible."
In February 2023, Polygon posted an investigate article on 12 GameStop robberies in southern California, reporting that within three months, 30 stores had been hit nationwide. However, the burglars involved in these crimes were armed with weapons, according to the article.