Chickie’s & Pete’s Robbery was an Inside Job: UDPD

An inside job -- that's what Upper Darby Police are calling Sunday's armed robbery of Chickie's & Pete's in Drexel Hill.

"These guys knew what they were doing," Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said in a news conference Tuesday. "They didn't waste anytime. They got in, they got out."

Now police are looking for the two armed men they say stormed into Chickie's & Pete's at 5035 Township Line just before 10 Sunday morning and forced employees into the walk-in freezer before making their way into an office where the on-duty manager was working. There, they threw roughly16,000 in cash into a brown plastic bag. They also took two rings off the manager's fingers and her wallet, according to Chitwood.

Surveillance video inside the restaurant shows the masked men -- one of whom was wearing a Chickie's & Pete's sweatshirt -- force four employees into the freezer at gunpoint.

Video captured outside the sports bar shows an idle car just outside the front door. Investigators believe the suspects jumped into the vehicle -- either white or grey and driven by a third man -- after the robbery.

Owner Pete Ciarrocchi is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the men.

"We are seeking the public’s help to bring those responsible to justice,” Ciarrocchi said in a news release. “This was a robbery where the perpetrators literally stole the manager’s engagement ring right off her finger, and then locked four of our employees in a freezer, potentially jeopardizing their lives. We are cooperating with the Upper Darby Police, and in discussions with Superintendent Michael Chitwood, we decided that the reward might help police in their efforts to identify and arrest the perpetrators.”