Pizza Hut Manager Helped Boyfriend Rob Her Own Store… 3 Times In 4 Months
Cleveland.com reports that the first robbery at the Pizza Hut in Mayfield Heights, OH, took place on Dec. 1 and that $2,000 was stolen from the eatery.
Two masked gunmen “forced” their way into the Hut while the manager was opening up. They told her to open the safe, then used a cellphone charger cord to tie her up and lock her in the bathroom.
The second heist too place two months later, on Feb. 3. This time, a masked gunman entered the Hut through a backdoor and tried to get the only employee on duty to open the safe. The worker claimed to not know how to get into the safe, and so the robber left without cash — but not before pulling the old “tie her up with the charger cord and lock her in the bathroom” thing again.
After that robbery, the manager (who would eventually be arrested) told police she’d been the one that had closed the store the night before, but that she’d had trouble with the alarm, and that she’d never checked to make sure it was locked before leaving.
Then there was the third robbery, on April 13, during which the now-familiar masked gunmen switched up their M.O. by using plastic bags to tie up employees. The manager was freed from her baggie bondage and told to open the safe, which she did, allowing the gunmen to make off with $1,200.
Surveillance video from the Hut and surrounding businesses helped police to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Not only did it capture footage of the gunmen fleeing the last robbery, but it also had the robber dropping the manager off in her car earlier that morning before parking it on a nearby side street. The boyfriend was then found driving that car three days after the last hold-up, leading to his arrest and that of his girlfriend, who had worked at the restaurant for two years before these crimes.
He faces three first-degree felony aggravated robbery charges and the manager is on the hook for three counts of aiding and abetting the robberies.
All for a grand total of $3,200, presumably split three ways with the other gunman. It’s like they always tell kids: Crime doesn’t always provide a good return on investment.
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