OCOEE, Fla. – A McDonald's employee was pistol-whipped and the Ocoee restaurant's manager was forced to open a safe at gunpoint by two masked robbers, according to police.
The armed robbery happened about 3 a.m. Friday at the McDonald's near Colonial Drive and McGuire Road.
According to Ocoee police, two masked men entered the restaurant, and one of them, later identified as 23-year-old Marco Romulus Simplice, pistol-whipped a worker. He then made the manager open the store safe.
The other assailant forced a worker to open a cash register and stole money, police said. The culprits also stole cellphones from the four employees before driving off in a silver Chrylser, police said.
An Ocoee officer found the vehicle abandoned nearby and spotted three men running toward another car, police said.
A short car pursuit ended when the culprits crashed into a fence on St. Lawrence Street, according to police. Two guns and the cash stolen from McDonald's was found in the car, police said.
A K-9 tracked down and bit Simplice, who was hiding near Willowood Street and Bright Meadow Drive.
Anyone with information about the other two men is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.