Originally published Sept. 25, 2010
Employees at the downtown Subway sandwich shop that was robbed last Tuesday by a lone gunman are fearful and still dealing with the traumatic experience.
The manager of the shop and the employee who were the ones robbed at gunpoint are scheduled to be back to work this week.
“He was so scared. He thought he was going to die,” said a 33-year-old Subway employee when talking about his co-worker who was confronted by the gunman. He asked to be unidentified, fearful of giving out his name. “He’s okay. I talk to him. But, I think it’s the first time he’s ever been through something scary like that.”
Last week, a 23-year-old employee and the manager were working around 6:30 AM when a large black man entered the store and made a sandwich order. While the employee was making the sandwich, the suspect jumped over the counter brandishing a gun.
The frightened employee ran to the backroom where the manager was working. The gunman then followed him, surprising the manager, and then pushed and dragged both employees to the floor near the front counter. He then took $1,600 from the register and fled the area.
The employees were uninjured and police recovered a BB gun at the scene.
“We’re all still a little, y’know…,” the 33-year-old Subway employee said. “This guy could be a gangbanger. We don’t know. He or his guys could come back.”
He said that they have not heard any news or updates about the case from detectives.
Police at this time are not commenting on the progress of the robbery case. L.A. detectives, however, released a surveillance video of the robbery last Thursday, hoping the public would help with information that would lead to the armed suspect shown on the tape.
“So many crimes are solved because people are willing to step up with information,” Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the central detective division, said in a statement released with the video. “We hope that will be the case here.”
“I generally feel pretty safe in the building,” said Janna Conner-Niclaes, 34, a jewelry designer who has shared her shop in the same complex for over 4 years. She was surprised to hear that a robbery had taken place at the Subway restaurant.
“They lock the doors and close the garage after hours and they have a 24-hour guard in the lobby,” she said. “There are often a lot of interesting characters walking around the street, but I have never had a problem with anyone.”
This is not the first time the fast food sandwich shop at 155 W. Washington Boulevard has been robbed. The 33-year-old Subway employee said that he experienced a similar situation four years ago.
“You can’t panic,” he said. “You just do what they tell you and give them the money. Sometimes it’d be good though to have a gun or a big glass window so we could protect ourselves.”
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