BRIEFS: Crime

Police stop restaurant robbery

A police sergeant thwarted the robbery of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the Los Libertadores area of Bethania yesterday after an armed teen entered the restaurant shortly before it opened and demanded money.

He took about $1,200 in cash and then fled from the business.

As the robbery was taking place, an employee arrived in a truck to deliver supplies to the restaurant. He saw the robber and alerted a nearby police sergeant who was on a motorcycle patrol.

The sergeant confronted the robber, firing several times in the air. The teen surrendered, and he was taking into custody without further incident. Three of his accomplices, however, escaped. Those individuals had been waiting in a car outside the establishment. The sergeant recovered the stolen money, as well as the .38-caliber pistol used in the robbery.

This year, KFC restaurants have been robbed nine times, and more than $40,000 has been stolen. The Bethania location has been robbed three times alone.

Franquicias Panameñas, which operates the restaurants, declined to comment about the robberies. A police source, however, said that the establishments are being targeted because they do not have security cameras and because their security guards usually don't start working until noon.