The NYPD is on the hunt for armed robbers who targeted a truck in the Bronx that stores cell phones for high school students while they’re in class.
Dozens of devices were swiped at gunpoint Tuesday from the Safe Mobile Storage truck parked on Astor Avenue, just a block from Christopher Columbus High School.
“I was heartbroken when I found out,” said junior Chad Hornsby, one of the many students who have left their cell phones with the mobile truck before going to school, where students are banned from bringing phones inside.
“I came outside, ran outside -- and they didn’t want to let us come near the truck," said sophomore Alison Mercado.
The Department of Education's ban on cell phones forces many students to use $1-a-day facilities to store them, ranging from mobile trucks like Safe Mobile Storage to nearby bodegas.
Teacher Donald March said Tuesday’s robbery was an incident bound to happen, but backs the policy banning phones in the classroom, arguing it prevents violence from coming inside school doors.
“You don’t want to see the kids ripped off, you don’t wanna see anyone taking advantage of them, and you certainly don’t want to see a violent situation erupt inside of the building," he said.
Harold Richardson, the owner of Safe Mobile Storage, said he is working with his insurance company to compensate students who had their electronic devices stolen. He did not specify how he would do that or when.
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