Police: Gunmen rob Tacoma Hooters, force workers into freezer
TACOMA, Wash. -- Two Tacoma Hooters employees found themselves locked in the freezer Monday morning as armed and masked robbers looted the store, according to the Tacoma Police Department.
According to police, the janitor had returned to the Hooters at 6812 Tacoma Mall Blvd. before 7 a.m. to finish up something he forgot to do during his shift and left the door unlocked behind him.
Two masked men, one armed with a handgun, followed him in and forced him into the walk-in freezer, according to police.
About 30 minutes later, the restaurant's manager arrived. According to police, the man with the gun took the manager's cellphone, keys and wallet and forced him into the freezer with the janitor.
The robbers took the money from the safe and left, according to police.
The employees were able to eventually break out of the freezer and call 911.
Despite being in the freezer for up to 40 minutes, the two Hooters employees were not harmed.
“Physically they are fine," Tacoma Police Officer Loretta Cool said. "But, they were confronted by masked people with guns. Obviously that’s a frightening situation to be in.”
Now if we had a gun-free zone this wouldn't of happened...sorry but signs don't stop criminals..leave that up to the police.
When I read this headline, I had visions of Hooters girls coming out of a walk in freezer, cold, shivering, and............well, I think you know where this is going. Way to disappoint KOMO. lol. As far as the crime goes? Too many "coincidences" for my taste. I'd be looking into the janitor's social circle (and the manager's for that matter) As busy as that place had to have been on Superbowl Sunday, these crooks could have hit a BANK and gotten less money.
@Harley-H.S.C. You're definitely on to something. They never mentioned how they got into the safe with the manager in the freezer.
Another case of KOMO being out of tune with the rest of Seattle, Gunman should read gunperson or so say some in Olympia that have nothing better to do than try to rearrange how we speak
Just so happens the janitor returned because he forgot something, leaves the door unlocked and gunmen follow him in? Yeah, right. How convenient he goes back and forgets to lock the door the day after Superbowl...one of the busiest sports bar days of the year...the day when there's the most cash in the safe. I'm calling shenanigans! This janitor's part of the caper and he's going down.
 @Dr Szell Yeah.... I think you're right ... manager's in on it too as I don't think the janitor would have keys or combination to the safe.
Hooters, good that employees are okay, but I never had heard of a bar called "Hooters" before. But then there was a bar in Portland called "Six Tits" owned by three women.Â
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 @WhatdidIsay? Always a good idea to read the article before commenting. The two employees in the walk in were both male.Â
 Maybe the janitor looked like Brad Pitt........
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Be safe out there. Crime is on the rise everywhere.
@brewzbrothers How can this be? I thought our economy was nearly perfect under the Obama Administration. At least that is what we keep hearing from his minions in the media. When the economy is good crime is down. It just doesn't make sense.
 @jdoll88  @brewzbrothers Yea, your ignorance and denial is grossly evident. I have yet to read anywhere that the economy is doing all that well, or as you say, "perfect." Considering the fact that after the 2008 election the Republican stated goal was to bring down the Obama Administration at any cost, the economy is doing better than expected.
 @jdoll88 Care to share any citations or examples of your boiler-plate talking point? Where, anywhere is it being reported that the economy is "nearly perfect", exactly?
 @brewzbrothers well... at least "reporting of crime" is on the rise everywhere
Maybe the two Hooters employees can get some "therapy" at the local gun range.Â
 @lakeview Machine gun jigglies!
This was posted at 12:09 and the Trib posted it at 11:39 and they have the discription
How terrifying for everyone involved. I sure hope they are able to catch the scumbag losers that did this. I wonder if they had any cameras running? If so, at least they can put out a picture or video of the thieves. Even if their faces are covered, someone might recognize the clothing, the way they carry themselves, etc.
 @The WA Mama There is surveillance footage. But, Tacoma PD has not released it.
@MichaelHarthorne Thanks for the update. I hope they do release it soon.
Oh man, sounds like these criminals must have forgotten to take the Sounder up to Seattle for the gun buyback, imagine that....
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Everyone here can see what happens when a business is gun free, the employees get thrown into the freezer. They were lucky they weren't shot by these crackhead crooks.
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Arm yourselves, the police can't protect you.Â
 @NW-Economist Or, he could've just locked the front door.
I'd rather be locked in a freezer for most of an hour than to have a shoot out with criminals.
Besides these are employees so it's not their money.
 @mstipton It's a dilemma......they may take the money and go....or they may decide they want no witnesses and put a bullet in your skull to ensure that's the case. I'd prefer to stand up and defend myself, although I can't judge anybody else for making a decision to do otherwise when they are the ones in that situation. Nobody really knows how they are going to react to a situation like that until they are in one........
 @mstipton So you think sheep should negotiate with wolves and politely ask them not to hurt them. Are you sane?
 @NW-Economist More likely they turned their gun(s) in and got the money, and have stolen a new gun since....
@NW-Economist Be careful, your tinfoil hat is slipping and I think they can read your thoughts...
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Reverting to the times of the wild wild west is not the solution. You are not allowed to bring a gun into a bar or restaraunt that serves alcohol, so this wouldn't have settled or saved anything. On top of that, the flaw in your argument is that you're endorsing a concept that would cause a shootout in public places. That's not exactly the solution. Add to that, police officers receive regular firearm training and send more rounds downrage than almost every private gun owner. Not only are police more profiscient in handling firearms, they also receive regular tactical training in how to deal with these situations. I certainly don't feel more comfortable thinking JimBob and Jethro Hicks are going to help 'diffuse' a nasty situation without anyone else getting hit.
 @what? Your ignorance of the law is showing.
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11) Can I carry in a bar? (RCW 9.41.300) No. You cannot carry in a place where alcohol is consumed AND is off limits to persons under 21. Restaurants that serve alcohol are fine.Keep begging these criminals not to kill you, and when they're done robbing you/raping you/doing whatever they want, maybe, just MAYBE they'll decide to let you live. But don't count on it.Â
 @NW-EconomistÂ
This saved me the time of correcting the post.
 @dogma22  @NW-Economist  @lakeview  @what? The federal laws that regulate fully automatic weapons.Â
 @NW-Economist  @lakeview  @what? like trhe federal marijauna laws? just saying!
 @lakeview  @what? so far I haven't been wrong about WA law at all, however you keep forgetting WA is inside the USA and abides by federal law as well.Â
 @NW-Economist RCW 9.41.300 "That portion of an establishment classified by the state liquor control board as off-limits to persons under twenty-one years of age"
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Let's just leave it at that.
 @NW-Economist  @what? Yup, can carry into the Applebees and have a beer....so long as you stay out of the actual BAR section. Only areas marked with official Liquor Control Board signs stating only 21 and over are actually off limits to those carrying firearms. A common misconception, and one I have had to correct others on once or twice.Â
 @NW-Economist  @what? This guy knows a lot about Washington law except when he's dead wrong.Â
That's a nasty neighborhood. I worked next door a number of years ago and there was a lot of BS going on in their parking lot. We'd see hookers working in parked cars, drug deals, break ins, and fights in the parking lot. It drove a lot of our business away as customers didn't want to have to wade through that rubbish on the way into our store as we shared a parking lot. We complained to Hooters about it, but they didn't care. We'd call into Tacoma PD and we'd be lucky to see them respond. Really made us angry to call and report the same people doing the same things and not get any response from the PD.
 @what? More proof that the only person you can rely on for your protection is you.....and the best way to do that, like it or not, is to be armed and trained in self defense.
 @dg54321 It certainly helped the Navy Seal in TX to be armed and trained in self defense.
 @NWNative If you are looking for a life with guarantees, you are certain to be disappointed. Nobody is saying that being armed makes one invulnerable. But it sure is better than having no options. And against an armed assailant, you have few options. Unarmed, you have none.
Suspect descriptions
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"Both robbers are described as black men wearing masks. One was about 5 feet 10 and 225 pounds, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes".
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Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/2013/02/04/hooters-employees-forced-into-freezer-during-tacoma-robbery/#storylink=cpy
Stupid janitor!
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Another possibility: Â What if he was in on it?
 @DMT Seems awful convenient that he "left the door unlocked".Â
@dg54321 @DMT and very fortunate for the masked robbers that just happened to be out and about in the morning, looking for something to steal.