Inset: Keondre Simmons (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Shake Shack in Arizona where Keondre Simmons allegedly robbed his co-workers (Google Maps).
A Shake Shack worker in Arizona allegedly called out sick from work then showed up at the burger joint as a masked, armed robber — locking two co-workers inside a "walk-in cooler" while holding them at gunpoint, cops say.
Keondre Simmons, 33, had allegedly come back to the Scottsdale Shake Shack location in Kierland Commons two days later for his next shift when he was arrested on charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping.
Court documents obtained by local Fox affiliate KSAZ say Simmons called out of his shift around midnight on Aug. 3. He returned to the restaurant hours later to rob the place, with an employee hearing a delivery bell and opening a door to let him in, according to police.
"[The employee] opened the door after hearing the delivery bell, believing a scheduled delivery had arrived," the court documents say. "When the door opened, the suspect pointed a firearm at [the employee], ordered him inside, and escorted him at gunpoint toward the walk-in cooler. The suspect forced [the employee] inside and locked the cooler door."
Simmons allegedly locked the cooler door using a latch that only employees would know how to operate. He then found the on-duty manager and ordered him to open the restaurant's safe, according to police.
Simmons took about $2,800 in cash before forcing the manager into the cooler with the other employee. Both workers managed to escape using the cooler's internal failsafe, but Simmons then confronted them again.
Simmons marched the employees into the store office and made them kneel while Simmons destroyed their cellphones and the office phone before fleeing, the court documents say.
The two employees who were targeted allegedly told police the suspect's "build, hairline, voice and mannerisms" matched Simmons. They also said the gunman appeared to have detailed knowledge of the restaurant — including its layout, where certain equipment was kept, and how to operate the cooler door and latch.
Security personnel at Kierland Commons told police they saw a masked man arriving at and leaving the Shake Shack before and after the robbery, according to the court documents.
Simmons was arrested on Aug. 5 when he returned to the restaurant. He is being held in Maricopa County on a $100,000 bond.