Oct 7 2008 Spartanburg Police were called to a drive-in restaurant where employees disarmed and restrained a robbery suspect.
Employees at Boots and Sonny’s Drive-in on East Henry Street said that an armed man had come into the business through an unsecured rear service door at about 9 p.m.
They said that the man pointed a silver handgun at employees and demanded money from the safe.
A surveillance camera caught it on video when the Spartanburg restaurant's manager decided to take action.
"He pulled a gun out of his jacket," manager Shannon West said. "He said, 'Where's all your money at?' He put a gun to me and he told me to, you know, to get the money out and get the safe open."
However, West didn't know the safe's combination. That's when the countdown began.
"He's telling me, 'Once we get in here, we've got five seconds to get it open,'" West said. "When he got to three, he kind of looked, I don't know if he looked around or what, but I saw him and I just lunged for him."
The struggle was quick, she said. West was able to wrestle the gunman to the floor with the help of another employee, who said he used a little Wrestle Mania action he'd seen on TV.
"The choke hold, that's my signature move," the employee said.
The pair kept the suspect on the ground in the kitchen until nearby officers got there and arrested 21-year-old Alvin Dean Edwards.
Edwards is hold in the Spartanburg Detention Center.He faces a robbery and weapons charges.
Manager Shannon West said, "Everything worked out good. I thank the good Lord for that. Nobody got killed shot or hurt."
