OCALA, Fla. – Halloween isn't for another couple of weeks but employees at Waffle House on West Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala got quite the scare after two masked individuals came in and robbed them overnight.
"We do have two suspects here that had two very distinguishing masks they were wearing," said Lauren Lettelier with the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies are asking for the public's help identifying the two men, one wearing a clown mask and the other an animal mask.
"We have seen it before but it's not something we see every day," Lettelier said. "So we're hoping this very distinguishing element to this case can be noticed by our community and immediately rectify this case and close it and (hopefully bring) these people into custody."
Deputies said the robbery happened inside Waffle House in Ocala at around midnight on Thursday morning.
Detectives said one of the men pulled out a handgun and pointed it at employees and threatened to shoot if employees didn't put money in their bag.
"These are very dangerous people," Lettelier said. "They went in there armed and threatened to shoot people and we need to get them off our streets."
Employees said the two men left the store on foot.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Marion County at 352-368-STOP.