CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A string of crimes is targeting local fast food chains.
Over the weekend, police say a suspect opened fire inside a Wendy’s on South Boulevard. There was also a burglary at Chick-fil-A in Matthews, and a robbery at a Taco Bell in Charlotte.
NBC Charlotte learned of a surprising twist about the crime at the Wendy’s. The restaurant’s manager was previously interviewed by NBC Charlotte when she was robbed as an employee of a Charlotte-area Subway restaurant in 2017.
Police say an armed suspect entered the Wendy’s on South Boulevard and opened fire around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“Nobody likes to hear that,” one customer said. “Somebody came in here and shot the place up.”
In the following hours, there were more crimes targeting local fast food chains. Matthews police say someone broke into a Chick-fil-A at around 2 a.m. on Sunday. After that, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says a man robbed a Taco Bell on North Sharon Amity Road on Sunday night.
“That’s the way the world is today,” a Wendy’s customer said.
In a surprising twist, the manager of the Wendy’s was robbed in a different fast food job in the past.
She described the crime to NBC Charlotte in 2017, when she was a Subway employee in the Park Road Shopping Center. She asked for her face to be hidden during the interview.
“He pointed the gun like at midsection area right in here, and I just immediately froze and was in shock, like I can't believe this is happening right now,” she previously told NBC Charlotte.
The suspect in the Subway robbery was arrested and charged for a string of business robberies at the time. The Wendy’s manager did not want to go on camera to talk about the shots fired in the restaurant. However, off camera, she told NBC Charlotte that all the employees ran out of the Wendy’s after the armed man entered.
She said multiple bullets damaged the kitchen area, but fortunately, no one was hurt.
Police say they are actively investigating the circumstances of the crime, but they have not released a motive at this point. No arrests have been made.