Managers at three quick-service restaurants in the Tacoma, Wash., area have been kidnapped by robbers who posed as police and forced at gunpoint to open each restaurants' safe, according to KOMO News in Seattle.
From KOMO News:
In all three incidents, restaurant managers in Pierce County were pulled over by a vehicle with red-and-blue flashing lights shortly after closing and leaving their restaurant.Two unidentified suspects wearing bandanas over their faces then approached the victims' vehicle, flashed guns and handcuffed the victim.Then one of the robbers drives the victim back to the restaurant and forces the victim to unlock the doors at gunpoint, open the safe and give them cash.
The chains involved include a Burger King in Graham, a Wendy's in Tacoma and a McDonald's in Lakewood. Police are seeking the public's help in solving the crimes.
Update 11/3/09: A female employee of an unnamed Lakewood QSR was sexually assualted in a similar attempted robbery after leaving work this weekend, according to a story in The News Tribune. The two masked men stopped the woman as she drove home and held her and her boyfriend up at gunpoint. They handcuffed the boyfriend and put him in the trunk of the car. When they learned the woman did not have keys to the restaurant, they sexually assualted her, police said.
The escalation in violence has police concerned. They advised those who fear for their safety while they are being pulled over by what appears to be a police officer to call 911 and confirm with police dispatch that it is an actual traffic stop.
Update 11/4/09: Pierce County, Wash., law enforcement distributed safety information to area QSR employees and managers in light of the string of robberies involving the two men impersonating police officers, according to a story in The News Tribune.
From The News Tribune:
In the safety flier, law enforcement officials strongly encourage drivers not to stop immediately if someone in what appears to be an unmarked police car tries to pull them over.Instead, drivers are encouraged to call 911 and maintain their speed. Police officials say drivers then should head to a well-lighted area.
