Do I have to restore my iPhone 4 to unlock it?

I have a brand new iPhone 4 that I want to flash to Cricket. Obviously I have to unlock it first to flash it, but how exactly do I do that? It's straight out the box from the Verizon store so it's in nobody's name, nobody's number and has no information on it and also isn't activated.

Can I restore it without service? By hooking it up to iTunes obviously. And will it hurt to restore it if there's no info. On the phone or what should I do? I plan to flash it tomorrow, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

Verizon iPhone 4 can't be unlocked ever as it has no GSM capability. What you need to do is get your iPhone 4 flashed to Cricket.iTunes won't unlock the phone like that, it's impossible for your model. You can mail this person (arghyle@rocketmail.com) who can help you get the phone flashed to Cricket.