Manager of Pine Hills cellphone store shoots teen ‘smash and grab' burglar, deputies say

PINE HILLS, Fla. — A teenager who used a rock to smash open display cases at an Orange County cellphone store was shot by the manager after an altercation Thursday, investigators said.

The alleged burglary was reported at Computers for Less, in the area of Silver Star and Pine Hills roads, at about 5:30 p.m., Orange County deputies said.

According to investigators, the teen entered the store armed with a rock, used it to break open the counter display and tried to steal several cellphones.

The manager, who was not identified, tried to stop the teen and after a struggle inside the store, he followed the suspect outside and shot him, deputies said.

“(The teen was) literally hobbled,” witness Gabrielle Boozier said. “He couldn’t walk.”

The teen was somehow able to flee the scene, deputies said.

As investigators searched for the alleged burglar, they received a call from a woman saying her son had been shot.

The teen was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, deputies said.

As of 10 p.m., investigators had not said if the teen was the same person involved in the attempted burglary at the cellphone store.

At some point during the incident, the store’s glass door was shattered, but deputies had not determined how it happened.

The store is across the street from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office mobile command unit, which was set up in Pine Hills to help curb crime in the area.

No customers were inside the store at the time of the attempted burglary, deputies said.

Cox Media Group