The Charlotte Observer reports that a total of 25 iPhones valued at over $16,000 have been reported stolen from Apple's Northlake Mall retail store in Charlotte, North Carolina. While smash-and-grab robberies are not terribly unusual at Apple retail stores, this case has an unusual twist in that the suspect appears to have been an employee of the store.

“The iPhones were stolen from the Genius Room located inside of the store," a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report says. "The suspect did have access to the Genius Room." The stolen phones, which are valued at $16,425, include 22 16-gigabyte iPhone 4S models, one 64-GB 4S model, one eight-GB iPhone 4 model and one 32-GB 4S model.

Charlotte's WBTV confirms that the suspect was a store employee and that the 25 phones were stolen over a period of time between December 1 and January 11. Police are reportedly searching for the suspect.



Apple's Northlake Mall retail store is one of two in the Charlotte area, having just opened last August.