What to Know
- A Chipotle and two Popeyes restaurants have all been robbed by a trio of men in the past week and police say they cases could be connected.
- The robberies have all occurred around closing time in Northeast Philadelphia locations.
- In at least two of the heists, two of the men were armed.
Armed robbers held up workers closing up shop at a Rhawnhurst Chipotle restaurant Monday night. And, police say the robbers followed a similar pattern to heists at other Northeast Philadelphia eateries in recent days.
Three men, at least two armed with handguns, approached employees of the Roosevelt Mall Chipotle along Cottman Avenue around 9:50 p.m. Monday then forced them inside, Philadelphia police said. Once inside they demanded the workers empty the cash registers. The men then ran off with a few thousand dollars.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our guests and employees,” Chipotle said in a statement. “We are cooperating with the local authorities as they investigate, and we hope the perpetrators are apprehended quickly.”
Two other recent closing-time robberies hit Popeyes stores within a few miles of the Chipotle.
On Saturday night around 10:30, three men, two holding handguns, entered the Popeyes at the Rising Sun Shopping Center along Adams Avenue through a rear door and forced the employees onto the ground, police said. They then stole money and four cellphones from the workers before fleeing.
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On Friday night around 11, three men entered the Popeyes at 4501 Castor Avenue and forced the workers to hand over their cellphones, investigators said. The robbers then took some cash and fled.
Video from the robberies show masked men in the restaurants. Police hope the surveillance images help them track down the robbers.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police.
