A Shake Shack employee in Arizona is accused of staging an armed robbery at the restaurant where he worked, holding coworkers at gunpoint and then returning to the job just days later, police said.
Keondre Simmons, 33, allegedly covered his face and entered the Scottsdale Shake Shack on Aug. 3 with a semi-automatic handgun, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
Investigators say Simmons forced one employee into a walk-in cooler at gunpoint before ordering the store manager to open the restaurant’s safe and turn over roughly $2,800, the outlet reported.
He is also accused of locking both employees inside the cooler and making them kneel while he held them at gunpoint. Police said Simmons allegedly took their cellphones as well, destroying the devices in a sink filled with water.
Both victims told officers the masked suspect’s build, voice and knowledge of the Shake Shack location matched Simmons. They pointed to details such as his familiarity with the walk-in cooler latch, the placement of gloves and cleaning wipes, and the layout of restricted employee areas.
Investigators also noted that Simmons had called out sick that morning earlier than he normally would have, according to the report.
Surveillance video from the Shake Shack and a nearby property appeared to support the employees’ accounts, showing the suspect entering and exiting through the rear of the restaurant before leaving in a green SUV, court records state.
Authorities later obtained a search warrant for Simmons’ cellphone records tied to the time period when the robbery allegedly took place.
Detectives watched Simmons leave his apartment and drive to the Shake Shack location, where he was arrested in the parking lot on Aug. 5. Simmons was booked on charges of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping.
Simmons was wearing his Shake Shack uniform in his court appearance. He was held on a $100k bond.
A search conducted at his residence discovered the firearm that was described during the robbery and the cash that was allegedly stolen.
