Gunman attempts to rob Popeye’s

ALBANY — Three employees of an Albany restaurant were forced to hide themselves late Sunday night after an unidentified man entered a South Albany eatery just before closing, reportedly carrying a shotgun and looking for money.

According to Albany Police Department reports, officers responded to the Popeye’s at 1401 S. Slappey Blvd., after receiving reports of a burglary in progress. Once on the scene, officers met with store manager Steven Mohl, who stated that he was in the back of the restaurant “closing up for the night,” when cashier Chevelle Walker ran up saying that a man with a gun had entered the building.

Walker then told police that he was in the front of the restaurant cleaning up for the night when a black male wearing a burgundy short-sleeve shirt and black pants with a black scarf tied around his face entered the dining room pointing a shotgun at him. The report states Walker immediately fled to the back of the restaurant, where he and Mohl hid while the man apparently walked around the front area.

A third witness, Keenan Boston, told officers that he had been in the cooking pit when he heard Walker “rush into the back room” and tell Mohl about the gunman. That action prompted Boston to hide in the cooking area and watch the suspect until he was able to escape through the back door of the restaurant and run into a field, where he then called police.

Video footage from the restaurant ultimately showed that around 11:20 p.m., “a black male, wearing (a) red or burgundy short-sleeve shirt, black basketball shorts, and a white pair of tennis shoes with straps came in with black and white gloves and a black scarf tied around his face,” carrying what looked to be a shotgun.

The footage also showed that the suspect walked behind the front counter and checked the cash drawer and safe before leaving the building and heading east toward Cedar Avenue.

The video footage showed the suspect was only in the restaurant for roughly 30 seconds and that he was “unsuccessful in his attempt to get any money from the business.”

This case remains under investigation.