Cellphones stolen in N.Y.C. robbery

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NEW YORK, June 13 (UPI) -- Hundreds of New York City high school students had their cellphones stolen in an armed robbery of a storage truck, the truck owner said.

The Safe Mobile Storage truck, parked near Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx, is used by students to store cellphones and other electronic devices, which are banned within the school, for about a dollar a day. The truck was the target of a robbery of cash and the devices Tuesday, The New York Post reported.

Two men knocked on the roll-up back door of the truck, workers Maggie Miranda and Pedro Serrano opened the door and the men "stuck a gun to Maggie's head, threw them on the floor, tied them up with red (duct) tape, took the phones and the money. A couple hundred phones were taken," said truck owner Harold Richardson.

There were no injuries in the incident, but some students were upset by the loss of their cellphones, the newspaper said.

"That iPhone had everything, pictures of my boyfriend, my niece, my family's videos, everything. And it looks like I'm not getting another one," student Miriam Hernandez, 15, said.

Richardson said his firm's insurance will cover the loss of the devices.