By Matt Wiley | NEW TAMPA
It’s never a good idea to open the door for strangers, as a manger at New Tampa’s Burger King (in the Trout Creek area) has learned the hard way.
According to the Tampa Police Department (TPD), just after midnight on July 24, the store manager of the New Tampa Burger King, located at 20590 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just north of Burger 21, heard the buzzer coming from the rear door just after closing.
TPD reports that the manager thought the person at the door was a member of a maintenance crew, and opened the door to a man loading a semi-automatic pistol.
The report states that the manager fled to the front of the store while the unknown black, male suspect, dressed in khaki pants and a grey, long-sleeved shirt with a white bandana or t-shirt covering his face, proceeded to the restaurant’s office and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspect left out of the same door, but no one witnessed his vehicle or the direction in which the suspect went. No one was injured during the robbery.
The same day, an unknown white male burglarized the Burger King located at 901 E. Fowler Ave, but TPD has not yet determined whether or not the cases are related.
Anyone with any info about this case is urged to call Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at (800) 873-8477 (TIPS). The case is still under investigation and no additional information was available at our press time.