A KFC cook is being lauded for "shielding'' cashiers when a man threatened to shoot them during a holdup this afternoon near the Indiana border.
"He was shielding the girls when they were threatened,'' KFC manager Arlene Wilson said of the cook. "He didn't panic, he hit the alarm button,'' she said.
The incident unfolded about 1:30 p.m. when the robber walked into the eatery at 10556 S. Indianapolis Ave. and stated that he was going to shoot the cashier if he did not get money, police said. The suspect didn't show a gun but acted as if he had one in his pants.
He grabbed the cashier when she didn't open the register and then jumped behind the counter, police said. Another female clerk working the drive-up window and a shift supervisor were also working at the time, said Wilson.
But when the robber threatened to shoot, one of the girls escaped and ran across the street to a McDonalds to call police, according Wilson, who said "Joe,'' the cook, then sprang into action and helped the girls.
Meanwhile, the suspect fled with about $175 in cash and got behind the wheel of a silver sport-utility vehicle and fled on the Indiana Toll Road, towards Indiana, police said.
"They were a little scared, a little in shock,'' Wilson said of the three female staffers. "Except for Joe, he handled himself well.''
"Everyone is safe and in pretty good shape,'' Wilson said. My crew is very well trained.''
Police said the suspect, a man who was about 6-feet- tall and 225 pounds, was not in custody.
Wilson said police remained at the scene for at least three hours.