Armed Man Robs Denver Cookout

DENVER, N.C.,None — An armed man robbed a Cookout restaurant in Denver Wednesday morning, police said.

The restaurant is on Highway 73, near Highway 16.

Police said two men first parked next door at the East Lincoln Animal Hospital, then watched as the restaurant manager put a money bag in her car to make a bank deposit.

VIDEO: Armed Man Robs Denver Cookout

One of the men approached the woman, while the other stayed in the getaway car, police said.

The man told the manager he was interested in applying for a job, and she then went inside and got an application for him, locking the bank bag in her car. When she came back outside, they talked about his past experience briefly, and then the man held a gun to her head and forced her to open the car and give him money, police said.

The employee was not hurt.

The man ran around the back of the animal hospital got into the passenger seat of a red- or rust-colored Ford Explorer.

Kristy Desus, who works at the animal hospital, said she saw the robber run through the briars behind the building.

"[I was] scared, especially since he ran right by me," she said.

Desus said she didn't know the man had just robbed the Cookout manager, but knew something wasn't right.

"I went and got somebody to help me with the description of him," she said.

They recognized the robber as the man who had been in their parking lot earlier. Desus said he had even played with one their customer's pets.

Investigators think the robber was waiting until the manager came outside with the deposit bag.

The driver of the car took off down Highway 73 toward Mecklenburg County, according to police.

The robbery happened just after 9 a.m.

Police have not made any arrests. The suspects are described as two black males.

This robbery was the fourth in three weeks in the area. Police said the spate of crime may be because of the area's central location.

"It's very easy access to adjoining counties -- Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus," Detective Tony Wilson said.

Police said they don't yet know if any of the robberies are connected.

WSOC