Police search for men wanted in string of armed robberies

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Henry County and Atlanta police are looking for a man they say is responsible for a string of armed robberies in busy restaurants.

The latest of those robberies sent employees climbing out of a drive-thru window and customers hovering over small children.

That robbery happened in broad daylight last Wednesday inside a Subway restaurant.

Investigators said the robbery held everyone inside at gunpoint. The business next door had no idea what was happening inside.

"I don't think we would have got out of there without God's protection," said victim Mary Price.

Price told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that she thought it was her last five to seven minutes on Earth.

"He pulled it out and pointed it directly at me,” Price said. “(He pointed it at) my stomach first and then he moved up to my face."

Held at gunpoint, the Stockbridge cashier said she did everything the man asked her to do.

She gave him cash, led him to the safe, and hoped another employee could convince him they had no idea how to access more money.

"And the gun was like right in her face. And she tried to open it and she was like, 'I don't know it, I don't know it, I don't know it,'" Price said talking about the combination to the safe.

"And then he robbed the customers. He took their money, their jewelry. Everything. And then he left," said victim Mary Smith.

It would be the first in a string of robberies where investigators say the man is walking into busy restaurants, holding patrons and employees at gunpoint and very calmly, walking out with cash.

"It appears he has nothing to lose, and he's getting a little bit more bold during these robberies," said Capt. Joey Smith with the Henry County Police Department.

The next robbery would take place around 8 p.m. Friday at the Krystal's restaurant along Highway 155 in McDonough.

This time police say there was lookout man, one round fired and employees jumping through the drive-thru window for safety.

Later in the evening, police say the same shooting suspect held up a Subway in southwest Atlanta.

"What if he comes back and wants more money or comes back and actually shoots us this time?" Smith said. "I thought I'd either walk out of there with severe injuries or walk out in a body bag. Not walk out, but get rolled out in a body bag."

Price said was working the front line alongside a new, teenage employee when the gunman walked in.

"And has me make him a sandwich. A 6-inch turkey," Price said.

Clayton Kupp was a customer that night.

“He looks up at the guy around the counter, and he's like, 'You know what this is,' and he pulls a gun out," Kupp told Carr. "All the other workers who are in the back start jumping out of the window."

He said right after a round was fired, he hovered over his girlfriend and two young children sitting nearby as the gunman walked out calmly.

“I jump up and I lock the door. And then there's another guy and I yell at him to lock the door,” Kupp said.

Police say the same getaway car has been described in each of the three cases as a silver Hyundai sedan with damage to right side.

Cox Media Group