WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police are looking for a crew of robbers targeting Asian restaurants across the metro.
Seven locations across three counties have been hit, and police say in at least two of the cases, the robbers pistol-whipped female employees.
Police said in every one of these cases, the robberies happened at closing time.
On May 5 at the Hong Kong Buffet in Loganville, employees had a back door open because they were taking out the trash and cleaning up. They said that's when the robbers burst in and walked through the kitchen, pointing guns at everyone.
"The guy come from back door, and they just say, 'Money, money,'" the owner said.
The owner said it was closing time when two men barged in with guns. The owner said one of the men pointed a gun at her. She said she gave him money, but that wasn’t enough.
"They say, 'More money, more money.' So I was so mad. I already give you money, right, so you wanted more? So I was so mad, I touched his gun, but he hit me," the owner said.
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She said she tried to grab his gun, so he pistol-whipped her, kicked her and punched her. She gave Channel 2 Action News pictures of her injuries.
“I hope they can catch them soon,” The owner said.
Investigators across metro Atlanta said since April 29, the same crew of two to three males robbed a total of seven Asian restaurants in Loganville, Snellville, Grayson, Buford, Lawrenceville and Conyers.
One of the most recent robberies happened Tuesday night at the Oriental Garden on Highway 78 in Loganville.
“They always either cover their face with a hoodie, mask or bandana, so we don’t really have good facial description at this point,” Loganville police Assistant Chief Dick Lowry said. “Same type of entry, came in through back door, two male suspects, and they hit a young lady in the face with a pistol, too.”
Police said about an hour later, the gunmen robbed a Great China in Buford.
“I really don’t know why they’ve decided to target the Asian community, but that’s certainly what they’ve done,” Lowry said.
At the Mr. Eggroll in Snellville, police said one of the robbers used a Taser on an employee.
According to police reports, the gunmen have stolen victims’ keys, purses and wallets with personal information inside.