Calgary teen charged in armed cellphone store robbery
Posted Mar 5, 2026 10:18 am.
Last Updated Mar 5, 2026 10:58 am.
An 18-year-old Calgary man has been charged after police say he stole several cell phones during an armed robbery in the northeast over the weekend.
On Sunday around 11 a.m., investigators say a man entered a store on Falsbridge Gate NE, aimed a gun at employees, and demanded cellphones.
The suspect took all the phones from a store safe, then fled the scene.
Store staff called police, who deployed HAWCS and were able to find the suspect outside a home on Martinvalley Place NE.
Officers saw the suspect going in and out of both the home and the garage.
District 5 officers and members of the Canine Unit arrested the teen as he left the house.
When the home was searched, officers found 22 cell phones worth around $22,000, a pellet handgun, and clothes matching the suspect’s at the time of the robbery.
Tamrat Mesfin Beyene is charged with several weapons charges, as well as mischief, disguise with intent, and forcible confinement.
“By deploying HAWCS, we were able to safely determine where the suspect was and the best way to apprehend him,” said Sgt. Duncan Crosley of the Calgary Police Service. “Thanks to our teamwork in the air and on the ground, we were able to arrest someone within hours of a violent crime being committed.”
His next court appearance is March 9.
Anyone with infrmation about this incident is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234 or tip anonymously through CrimeStoppers.
