The owner of a Gary cellphone store who includes used phone purchases and resales among his business said he thinks a proposed ordinance to fight against stolen cellphones will be too difficult to enforce.
Esam Suboh, owner of the ABC Pager and Cellular store, 1291 Broadway, said he thinks he and other reputable businesses already have security measures in place that prevent them from buying cellphones from people who stole them and are hoping to make a quick buck.
“I already do a test whenever someone offers to sell me a cellphone,” Suboh said. “I check to see if the phone is eligible to be activated.
“I can tell when someone is trying to sell me stolen goods, and I don’t buy that,” he said.
Suboh wasn’t in favor of a proposal before the Common Council that would require retailers to obtain detailed information about people trying to sell cellphones, along with details of the phone itself.
Under the proposal sponsored by Councilwoman Linda Barnes-Caldwell, D-5th, lists of all cellphone purchases would have to be provided daily to the Gary Police Department, and retailers would have to wait 72 hours before they could wipe clean a phone’s memory for eventual resale.
Police Chief Larry McKinley said he supports the ordinance, and says it is similar to existing laws by which pawn shops already inform law enforcement of items they buy and sell.
Police spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said such information would be helpful in many investigations. “The preservation of evidence could be key to not only stolen items but to information on other crimes,” she said.
Caldwell said such measures are necessary.
“People are tired of having their phones stolen. There’s a market for them,” she said.
Suboh was skeptical, saying, “That’s an awful lot of work. How would the police have time to keep track of all these purchases?”
Although Suboh admits he does have people enter his shop – which also sells T-shirts, sports caps and other used goods in addition to cellphones – seeking to sell off their old phones. He says he would pay anywhere from $5-$10 for most phones, although for some high-end phones he might pay as much as $200.
Suboh was one of the few phone retail and pawn businesses in Gary that would admit to dealing with used cellphones.
George Spakowski, of Jack’s Loan Office, 1608 Broadway, said his store turns away anyone trying to sell a cellphone.
“They’re too much trouble, and too likely to be stolen,” Spakowski said. “Besides, you can get a cellphone real cheap these days, or even for free if you look hard enough for a deal.”
A clerk with EZ Pawn, 5466 Broadway in Merrillville – about one block from the Gary/Merrillville border – said on Thursday, “we don’t buy phones, they’re probably stolen.”
Other retailers were wary to even discuss the issue.
One person with ABC Cellular at 4242 Broadway identifying himself only as “Joe,” the store manager, told the Post-Tribune initially he accepted used cellphones from people wishing to trade them in for new phones, but then refused to elaborate.
“I really think that’s private information,” he said.
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
