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Best Buy robber uses pliers to steal phone, slash worker

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Surveillance video obtained by KIRO 7 shows a man stealing a phone from Bellevue’s Best Buy and slashing an employee who tries to stop him.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Police say the suspect used pliers as the means to clip the cable for the phone. The pliers were also used in the attack, according to police.

"What's very concerning is the suspect would use violence in this case to steal an electronic phone. That raises the level of this crime from a shoplift to a robbery, so we'd really like to get this suspect identified,” said Seth Tyler with the Bellevue Police Department.

In the surveillance video, the man in a camouflage Seahawks cap, can be seen at about 8:30 p.m. on August 24. He spent about 10 minutes roaming the store and looking in different departments.

Then he was flanked by two employees when he tried to steal a laptop.

Surveillance video shows him run, drop the laptop, snip away a phone with pliers, try to grab the laptop off the floor -- and then run away.

"It's kind of astounding -- the boldness of the guy, really,” said Nate Anderson, a Best Buy customer, when he was shown the video.

The store's loss prevention officer, Arturo Alaniz, can be seen in yellow as he tries to stop the suspect. A Facebook photo he posted shows the gash wound on his cheek.

Police say the suspect got away in a light-colored pickup truck.

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