Arrest may link fast-food accomplices

Police say a man who admits robbing a McDonald's restaurant in April may be connected to a string of recent robberies.

By RYAN MEEHAN
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 15, 2002

TAMPA -- Tampa police arrested a man Friday they suspect could be involved in the recent rash of fast-food restaurant robberies.

Mario McMillon, 26, turned himself in to police just before 5 p.m. and admitted to robbing a McDonald's at 8214 N Florida Ave. on April 27, Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said.

Durkin said that while it would seem that the robbery took place too long ago to be considered connected to the recent series of robberies, there are similarities in the thieves' methods.

Police are seeking two other men whom they believe were McMillon's accomplices.

In the April robbery, Durkin said, three men in a Pontiac drove up to the drive-through window. One man got out and robbed the attendant at gunpoint.

At least 11 restaurants have been robbed in Hillsborough and Pinellas in the past two weeks.

During the investigation into the fast-food robberies, Durkin said, McMillon became a suspect. He also was wanted for a probation violation for possession of marijuana.

"I guess he got tired of running," Durkin said of McMillon's decision to turn himself in.

McMillon was charged with armed robbery and violation of probation.

McMillon has had numerous convictions on drug charges since 1994. He also has been convicted of car theft and resisting arrest with violence.

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