A Phoenix Shake Shack employee called out sick later held his colleagues at gunpoint while he demanded money from the store, according to Phoenix police.
The store's on-duty manager and an employee told police around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 3 that a man with a handgun entered the store near Scottsdale Road and Main Street, according to court documents. This was also caught on surveillance video, police said.
The employees said they believed the armed robber was Keondre Simmons, another employee, who had suspiciously called out sick around midnight, which was earlier than usual, documents said. They based their belief on the robber's physical characteristics, voice, mannerisms and familiarity with the store, saying it must have been a current or former employee, according to court documents.
Simmons, 33, entered through the delivery door, pointed the handgun at the employee and locked the employee in the walk-in cooler, police said in court documents. Simmons locked the cooler door with a stiff latch mechanism known to employees, police said. The employee said he opened the delivery door because he thought a scheduled delivery had arrived, documents said.
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The manager heard the employee say someone had a gun, according to the documents. Simmons then forced the manager into the office, threatened him to open the store safe and place about $2,800 in a container Simmons was carrying, according to court documents.
Simmons then locked the manager in the cooler with the employee, documents said. Both were able to get out because of the cooler's internal failsafe, but Simmons returned, held them at gunpoint and ordered them to kneel in an office, court documents said.
Simmons took both employees' cell phones and the office landline and threw them into a sink that was filled with water, documents said. He left the same way he entered, through the delivery door.
Kierland Commons security, who oversee the overall property, saw Simmons' face after he briefly lowered his mask inside a public restroom and, after the robbery, got into a green or gray SUV before leaving, according to court documents. Police said it was a green Hyundai.
Police said they linked the vehicle seen in the footage to Simmons' residence, more than seven miles away. The license plate attached to it was not linked to the vehicle, police said.
Based on the evidence, police obtained a search warrant for Simmons' phone and found he was near the Shake Shack around the time of the robbery, according to court documents.
On Aug. 5, detectives followed Simmons, who left his apartment in his girlfriend's vehicle and drove to the Shake Shack, documents said. He was arrested.
In an interview with police, Simmons said he got rid of the clothes that he wore during the robbery and that a firearm was inside his home. After getting a search warrant, police found money and a firearm that was "very similar" in characteristics to the one used in the robbery, according to court documents.
Simmons told police that he was going through a tough time and that he had kids, documents said.
A spokesperson for Shake Shack did not immediately return a request for comment. Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Vince Lewis said neither employee was physically hurt.
Simmons was booked into jail on suspicion of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping.
Simmons was being held on a $100,000 bond, according to court records.
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