Jamestown Police Department P-J file photo

The Jamestown Police Department is looking for area residents who purchased cell phones reportedly sold fraudulently from a former employee of a local business.

In a news release sent Wednesday, police said the former employee — who is facing pending felony charges — sold about 28 cell phones totaling $5,959.72 from Cricket Wireless at 525 Foote Ave. and “kept the money for his own use,” JPD said.

“The employee reportedly accepted these transactions in cash without a receipt or with a fictitious receipt to the employer, resulting in some of the customers’ names not being known. The customers have now lost their service through the provider, and the phones are now reported as stolen and unusable through the network.”

Capt. Robert Samuelson of the Jamestown Police Department said the phones sold through fraud varied, including a couple of older-model iPhones and Androids.

“This employee took advantage of his employer to the cost of almost $6,000,” Samuelson said. “Right now we are trying locate anyone who may have purchased one of these phones that could be perceived as a victim as the service that they thought they were getting with their phones is now not available to them. We would like to confirm their sales receipt if they have one and confirm the circumstances of what we believe occurred during the sales.”

Specifically, investigators are asking customers who may have purchased a phone from the store between August 2019 to January 2020 to call JPD at 483-7531.

Additional information will be released on the former employer once charges are placed.