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CMPD: Armed man robs popular South End restaurant

By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com
By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police in Charlotte are still looking for the man who robbed the manager of a popular South End restaurant Saturday night, but they said whoever it was appeared to have some inside information.

The gunman got into the Tupelo Honey restaurant's office about 11:15 p.m. through a back door that serves as an employee entrance.

Once inside, the robber knew exactly where to go to find what he was looking for -- the office where the manager was tallying up the day's receipts, police said.

"(He) confronted the manager there, who happened to be counting money at the time, had the safe open, had the cash drawers down there as well," said Lt. Casey Carver, who supervises that area from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Central Division. 
       
While he was fumbling with the cash drawer, the gunman fired a single shot into the floor, Carver said.

"We don't think he meant to do that. He even stated to the manager, 'I'm not going to hurt you,' when she screamed after he fired the shot," Carver said.

The shot didn't hit anyone, and the suspect took off with the cash leaving through the same door he came in.

It was so quick that customers still inside the restaurant might not have even known what had happened, and on Monday, others were stunned.

"I know because it's such a beautiful place," said Barbara O'Reilly, who had come from Mooresville to have lunch.

It's all a little unsettling in Charlotte's South End, where restaurants and bars make for a vibrant night life, and where police said robberies like that are rare.

"For a business in that area to be robbed, especially in this manner, is very uncommon for down there," Carver said.

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