By Dannie Oliveaux and Daniel Nash
The Courier-Herald
With the rash of fast-food robberies in the Tacoma metropolitan area, local restaurant owners and managers may be enforcing safety and security procedures more.
Pierce County Sherriff’s Office investigators are warning the public about two suspects posing as police robbing fast-food restaurants in the county. Last month, four fast-food restaurant managers were robbed in two locations in Lakewood, one in Tacoma and another in Graham.
Bonney Lake’s fast-food restaurants are along state Route 410, while Sumner’s eateries are along or near Main Street.
“You know, we’ve just been enforcing our security procedures a little more and making sure we meet the safety standards that are already in place, because they are there for just those kinds of situations,” said Jarred Margo, manager at the A&W/KFC in Bonney Lake.
Area Franchise Manager Jacob Nelson of the Sonic Drive-In in Bonney Lake said his business is aware of the recent incidents.
“We certainly are asking our employees to be more alert,” Nelson said. “As employees leave, we have them leave in shifts, and the manager will be the last person out after he or she locks up. Meanwhile, the employees stay in the lot until they see that the manager has gotten to their car and that they’re safe.”
According the Crime Stoppers, restaurant managers have been pulled over by a vehicle with red and blue flashing lights shortly after closing and leaving their restaurant. The first incident was Oct. 5 at the McDonald’s on Steilacoom Boulevard in Lakewood, the second Oct. 23 at Wendy’s on Hosmer Street in Tacoma, the third Octt. 25 at Burger King in Graham, and the latest, Nov. 1 in Lakewood.
On Nov. 1, a restaurant employee and her boyfriend were stopped along 56th Street in Tacoma after they left a fast-food restaurant in the early morning hours.The woman was raped after she told the suspects she didn’t have the keys to the restaurant.
The two suspects – wearing bandanas over their faces – approach the victim’s vehicle, display guns and handcuff their victims. One suspect drives the victim back to the restaurant, then at gunpoint forces the victim to unlock the doors, open the safe and give them cash. It is believed the second suspect then picks up the first suspect after the kidnapping and robbery.
According to investigators, the male suspects are described as thin, 20 to 25 years old and about 5-foot-8. They have been seen wearing dark, hooded sweatshirts, hats, bandannas and gloves, and are armed.
Police are asking any persons being pulled over by a vehicle with red and blue flashing lights (other than a fully marked police car) needs to:
• call 911 immediately
• maintain your speed, do not stop
• head toward a well-lighted area (grocery store, gas station, etc.)
• tell the 911 dispatcher where you are and that you are being pulled over by an unmarked vehicle
• ask the 911 dispatcher to verify you are being pulled over by a police officer
• ask the dispatcher to send a fully marked police car to your location
• pull over and stop only if the dispatcher tells you it is a police officer
• if possible, try to get a license plate of any suspicious vehicles that may be following you or hanging around a restaurant and call the police.
Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests and charges filed in the case. Anyone with information can call 253-591-5959 and tipsters can remain anonymous.
