On Oct. 18, the Bartow Police Department was alerted by the victim that two subjects at the Verizon Wireless Store, 110 E. Van Fleet Drive, Bartow, stole personal pictures from her phone during a purchase and subsequent data transfer. The two men are employed by Cellular Sales of Knoxville, not by Verizon.

The victim went to the store to obtain a new phone, police said. During the purchase, associate Joshua Stuart offered to transfer the victim’s data from her old phone to her new phone. While transferring the data, Stuart illegally obtained personal pictures from the victim’s phone, keeping a copy for himself, the police report. Once the transaction was complete, the victim departed the store, trusting that all her data had been transferred to her new phone, police said.