Man accused of stealing phones from Amazon distribution center

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Police say they arrested a man accused of stealing around $15,000 to $20,000 worth of phones from his employer — Amazon.

Police said they were called to the Amazon Distribution Center near 46th St. N. and 169 on Monday.

According to police, management had evidence of a man working there stealing phones.

“They have pictures, videos of him, I guess he’s stealing phones...different types of phones from that center I guess for a long time,” said Officer Danny Bean with the Tulsa Police Department.

Officers arrested Ryan Riehl and said he admitted to taking the phones and selling them to local shops.

According to police, Riehl stole between $15,000 to $20,000 worth of phones.

“Says he’s broke and he’s just trying to make extra money and he was selling them around town to cell phone stores,” Bean said.

Police said management noticed Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones had been going missing and started looking into it, that’s when the video and pictures of Riehl taking the phones were found.

“I think they probably had an inkling or a red flag or maybe something happened where they found out like, ‘Where are these phones going?’ And then they can start reviewing and watching,” Bean said.

Bean said businesses should have security cameras so employers can see what’s happening if they need to.

“Anybody with a small business or a large business, it’s always a good idea to have your security measures put in place for any kind of reasons, all of them, I mean not to watch your employees but if something happens, you’ll be able to at least review it, maybe check to see what happened to the alarm system, someone enters there when they’re not supposed to, just for safety all around,” he said.

Riehl was arrested for embezzlement after a former conviction of a felony.