published: Friday, December 21, 2012

2 jailed for Pizza Hut robbery

News-Sun staff

SEBRING -- Two men were arrested Wednesday after Sebring Police say they robbed the Pizza Hut on U.S. 27 on Dec. 12, pistol whipping the manager.

Christopher Antonio Kenon Jr., 18, and Andre Lamont Wilson, 20, were both charged with two counts of kidnapping, and one count each of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault or battery and robbery with a firearm.

According to arrest reports, police were called to the restaurant at 10:08 p.m. on Dec. 12 in reference to a hold-up alarm. When police arrived, they made contact with the store manager, who had been pistol-whipped in the back of the head during the robbery. A short time later, a female employee came out of the building.

The employee told police that she had been sitting behind the building listening to music on her headphones when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. When she turned, she saw a man in a ski mask, who grabbed her and told her to stand up.

She thought it was somebody playing a joke, she told police, until the man pulled out a gun, grabbed her by the throat and pushed her toward the back door.

Three men entered the store with the employee, one of them grabbing a delivery bag from the shelf as they approached the front of the store.

The employee was told to sit on the floor near the sink and to not look, so she sat and covered her face.

The manager told police that he was waiting on his deliver driver to return so he could finish for the night when he heard the back door open and turned to see a man "charging" toward him, pointing a gun.

The manager said he put his hands in the air, and the man told him to open the safe. He opened it and took all the money out and was then struck on the back of the head with the handle of the pistol, receiving minor injuries.

After being told to empty the cash register into the bag, the manager was hit in the head with the pistol again, the report said. The robbers also took the manager's cell phone.

The manager and the employee were then ordered to crawl into the cooler at the rear of the store, advising them not to come out and then shutting the door. The pair then heard a loud noise outside, which may have been a gunshot.

The report did not elaborate on how police identified the robbers.