 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Two charged in fast food stickup
By JAMIE JONES
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- With handkerchiefs covering their mouths, two teenagers entered the back door of the Burger King in Brooksville at about 10 p.m. Sunday. One held a handgun and ordered two employees into the freezer as the other demanded cash from the manager, authorities said. The teens then took the manager's keys and fled in her 1998 Suzuki, authorities said. One Burger King employee told police that she recognized one of the robbers as a former employee, which led Brooksville police to make two arrests Sunday night. They arrested former employee Kenneth Smith, 18, of 6394 Enterprise Drive in Hill 'n Dale, and James Higgins, 17, of 27132 Fernery Ave. in Hill 'n Dale. Both were charged with armed robbery with a firearm and grand theft auto. Both were released from jail Monday on their own recognizance. Brooksville Police Sgt. Ron Woods said officers responded to the robbery at 1185 S Broad St. at 10:03 p.m. He said the suspects entered the restaurant, and Higgins, holding a handgun, told two employees to get inside the freezer. Smith took money from the manager, Woods said. No shots were fired, and no one was injured, he said. Burger King employees declined to comment. Authorities said the suspects drove the Suzuki a short distance and left it in the parking lot of the old Red Hots restaurant at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Broad Street, where they picked up their car and drove home, authorities said. Brooksville police officers and deputies from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office arrived at Higgins' home and met with him and his father, according to a report. Higgins admitted to the robbery, authorities said, and led them to Smith. Woods said he believed most of the cash stolen from the Burger King was recovered from the suspects' homes, as was the gun. The Suzuki was found in the parking lot where the teens left it, he said. -- Staff writer Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Hernando Times Jan Glidewell |
