N.C. cops look for leads in rash of fast food store robberies

ELIZABETH CITY

Police are looking for leads following a rash of armed robberies at fast food restaurants in eastern North Carolina.

In Elizabeth City, two, tall, lean black males in ski masks robbed McDonald’s at gunpoint early Thursday morning and robbed Little Ceasars Pizza at closing on Friday night, said Lt. John Etheridge of the Elizabeth City Police Department.

Men fitting the same description robbed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Tarboro late Tuesday night and a Kentucky Fried Chicken in New Bern late Saturday night. A Bojangles in Snow Hill was robbed Monday. Several fast food restaurants in eastern North Carolina have been similarly robbed in the last three months, Etheridge said.

“We feel like it’s the same people,” he said.

Etheridge declined to disclose the amount stolen.

Because of the string of robberies, Bojangles, based in Charlotte, has teamed with Crimestoppers in Pitt, Greene, Wilson, Martin and Beaufort counties to offer up to $10,000 in total rewards leading to an arrest and conviction.

Most of the robberies come at closing time or early morning, Etheridge said. Police here are teaching store managers crime prevention techniques such as:

Do not leave the back door open when taking out the trash. Be aware of surroundings. Pay attention to details such as clothing, shoe styles and color, body types, etc. Do not make cash deposits at the same time every day. If necessary, call for a police officer to serve as an escort.

“Criminals are like electricity, they’ll take the path of least resistance,” Etheridge said.