Three “brave” fast-food employees in Michigan served up swift justice to an armed robber — with one even jumping in a car to chase the suspect before holding him at gunpoint until cops arrived, police said.
A suspect entered an Arby’s restaurant on Van Dyke Road in Sterling Heights at about 9 a.m. Monday and put a gun in the faces of three employees while demanding their “morning startup money,” Sterling Heights police Lt. Mario Bastianelli said.
“So they turned the money over to the suspect and he takes off on foot,” Bastianelli told The Post. “Three employees then chased after him, into a nearby wooded area before calling police.”
One of the employees, Marcia Rabideau, said she hopped into her Dodge Charger and cornered the suspect at a riverbank while holding him at gunpoint until cops arrived and took him into custody. In a Facebook post recalling the incident, Rabideau said the experience was “priceless.”
“There was no way in hell I was going to allow this cat to get away with all of our deposits,” Rabideau wrote. “The suspect tried reaching for his gun but I told him if he lowered his f—ing hands again that I would shoot him dead and I meant it!!! He stood in the river bank with his hands above his head until the fuzz arrived!”
Rabideau, the restaurant’s director of operations, told MLive.com she “just reacted” without thinking about potential repercussions of confronting an armed suspect.
“Just being stupid, I guess,” she said.
But Rabideau, of Thomas Township, is no stranger to law enforcement, as she previously headed up Saginaw’s Arson Watch program. Her husband is also the police chief for the village of St. Charles and a former police officer in Saginaw, MLive.com reports.
Responding officers also arrested a second suspect, a getaway driver who also had a 1-year-old child in a car, said Bastianelli, who declined to identify the suspects but said they both faced armed robbery charges.
No injuries were reported, Bastianelli said. The child was not kidnapped and has since been reunited with the mother, police told the Macomb Daily.
Both suspects are expected to appear in court Tuesday and may face child endangerment charges in addition to armed robbery, according to Bastianelli, who “strongly” recommended that people leave policing to law enforcement professionals.
“It’s strongly advised for victims not to pursue an armed robber after they were robbed at gunpoint, due to obvious safety concerns,” Bastianelli said. “And money is just money — that can be replaced. Lives can’t. It’s brave of them to do it, but we don’t encourage it. Being a good witness is the best most people can do. That’s what we want people to do.”
Messages seeking comment from Arby’s corporate offices were not returned Wednesday and attempts to reach Rabideau were unsuccessful.