Restaurant manager fires shots in effort to stop robber

GRANITE FALLS, N.C.,None — The manager of a local restaurant fired shots at a robber to try to stop him from getting away.

"I was standing right here, and I point at him (and said), ‘Freeze! Stop!'" said George Ziogas, the manager of the Captain's Galley in Granite Falls.

The robbery happened on Sunday night. A man stole money from the restaurant's cash register and then fled.

When Ziogas realized what was happening, he headed to the parking lot to try to stop the robber.

"I try to reach in there to grab his keys," Ziogas said. "He puts it into reverse, throws me off (and) the car throws me over."

Fearing for his life, Ziogas said, he fired at the dark colored Ford Explorer three times, shattering the rear passenger's side window.

The robber got away. Police checked local hospitals after the robbery in Granite Falls, but no one showed up, so they don't think the robber was hit.

The incident wasn't the first time a Captain's Galley was hit. About 48 hours earlier, a nearly identical robbery happened at the Huntersville location. Earlier this month, the restaurant in Mathews was robbed twice.

"He looked so cool and calm about it," Ziogas said. "When he does it, it's like he doesn't care. He went to the front, got the money out of the front and went to the back to get some more."

Florence Lowman, who visits the restaurant often, supports what the manager did.

"I hate he didn't hit him," Lowman said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Caldwell County Crime Stoppers at 828-758-8300.

WSOC