Robbers Hold Restaurant Staff At Gunpoint In Lakeview
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Masked men stormed into a Lakeview restaurant early Monday and robbed employees at gunpoint, pistol-whipping two managers in the process.
Sources said, around 12:30 a.m., three men dressed in dark clothing, wearing ski masks, and armed with handguns entered Tuco and Blondie at the corner of Roscoe and Southport.
Once inside, the gunmen forced six members of the waitstaff to lie on the floor. Sources said the managers were then brought into an office, and pistol-whipped.
The robbers then took cash from the safe and a money box, along with five cell phones from the employees. They ran out the back door after the robbery.
Sources said there is surveillance video of the robbery.
A restaurant manager declined to comment on the robbery.
The holdup happened in the Southport Corridor of Lakeview, an area known for a vibrant restaurant scene, trendy shops, and family-friendly atmosphere.
Jan McManus has called Lakeview home for nearly two decades, and said it was shocking to learn of the robbery at Tuco and Blondie.
"It completely surprises me. It's a place we go all the time, and we feel very safe in the neighborhood, and I don't know of any other place in the neighborhood that's been robbed. So, yeah, it's scary," she said.
It was the second robbery in the Lakeview community in the last few days. On Thursday, a man followed an employee into the office of the Walgreens at the corner of Sheffield and Belmont. The man held that employee at gunpoint, demanded money from the safe, and ran out of the store.
In both incidents, no major injuries were reported.
No one was in custody in either robbery Monday morning.
