TACOMA, Wash. – Police say two men who have posed as police to kidnap and rob fast food managers struck again Sunday, this time raping the victim.
Officials with the Pierce County Sheriff's office and Tacoma and Lakewood Police say, in the first three kidnappings, the mangers were pulled over by a vehicle with red and blue flashing lights shortly after closing and leaving the restaurant.
Two unidentified men wearing bandanas over their faces approached the managers' cars, showed guns and then handcuffed the victims.
One suspect takes the manager back to the restaurant and then, at gunpoint, forced the victim to unlock the doors, open the safe and give them cash.
Detectives believe the second suspect then picks up the first after the robbery.
But at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday, the robbers stopped the manager of a Lakewood Wendy's. Police say the woman and her boyfriend were pulled over, but she did not have a key to the restaurant. The men handcuffed her boyfriend and put him in the trunk. They allegedly took the woman to some middle school property in the 1900 block of East 56th Street in Tacoma and raped her.
The other kidnappings and robberies happened on the following dates:
-Oct. 5, 2009, 12:49 a.m. at the McDonald's on Steilacoom Boulevard in Lakewood (Robbery)
-Oct. 23, 2009, 3:15 a.m. at the Wendy's on Hosmer Street in Tacoma (Attempt)
-Oct. 25, 2009, 2:30 a.m. at the Burger King on Mountain Highway in Graham (Robbery)
Police and other restaurant workers fear that the robbers may get more violent.
"By the way they're doing things, by leading from money to rape, they're going to want something more knowing they got away with this," said Chann Te, who works at a Kentucky Fried Chicken near the scene of Sunday's kidnapping.
Both men are described as white males, ages 20-25 years old, 5-feet 8-inches tall with thin builds. During the robberies, the suspects have been wearing dark hooded sweatshirts, dark hats, bandanas, and gloves, and have been armed with handguns.
They were driving a dark newer SUV and an older black Honda with tinted windows and with red and blue lights on the dashboard.The fact that they are posing as police is what has Te most upset.
"You're going to have to stop. You're going to be scared. You have to do what they say, so that's really messed up what they're doing," said Te.
Police say if you're ever being stopped by an unmarked car and you have a funny feeling about it, slow down and call 911 and detail to dispatch exactly what's going on. Police say most real officers will understand your caution.
Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the case. Callers will remain anonymous. Call (253) 591-5959 with information.
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