$16,000 stolen in armed robbery at Chickie's and Pete's in Drexel Hill
DREXEL HILL, Pa. (WPVI) -- Police say two men stole more than $16,000 and the manager's wedding rings in an armed robbery at the Chickie's and Pete's restaurant in Drexel Hill.
The incident happened around 9:40 a.m. Sunday at 5035 Township Line Road.
In surveillance video, obtained first by Action News, cameras captured the moment two armed and masked men walked into the restaurant through a side door.
Click/tap here to view the surveillance video.
One of the suspects is seen wearing a Chickie's sweatshirt before he walked into the manager's office and put a gun to her head.
"I refer as these types of individuals as urban terrorists. I mean they're armed, their masked, they know what they want," said Supt. Michael Chitwood, Upper Darby Police.
Police say the men forced the woman to empty the safe and threw more than $16,000 into a bag.
To add insult to injury, police say the men also took her wedding rings.
Others cameras recorded one gunman forcing the manager and three of her employees into a back freezer. They were told to stay put while the men made their getaway.
"They had information to what exactly they were doing so this was a well-planned out robbery. The best part about it is that nobody got hurt," said Supt. Chitwood.
Around 2:00 p.m. Sunday, the well-known community business reopened.
Action News ran into customer and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams who was surprised to hear this was Chickie's and Pete's first armed robbery in its nearly 40 year history.
"Pete does a great job in trying to support the community, giving jobs to so many people so it just very difficult. And it's sad to know something like that happens out here in Delaware County as well as I know all too often in my Philadelphia," said Williams.
Police say the thieves also stole the employees' cell phones which were later discovered on Township Line Road, tossed from the getaway car which was possibly a silver Toyota Prius.
Investigators are trying to determine if this was an inside job.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Upper Darby Police at 610-734-3439 or email them at passcrimetips@udpd.org.
