The 911 call made by a Disney Springs restaurant employee after a slippery thief wearing swimming gear allegedly stole $20,000 from the establishment has been released.
Audio released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday captures a female employee from the Paddlefish restaurant in Orlando calling police shortly after midnight on September 15 after the robbery had taken place. The restaurant was already closed to guests for the night.
“Can you describe the person who took the items?” the emergency operator asked in the call obtained by Fox 35.
“No idea, he was fully masked,” the employee said.
“Did he have a weapon with him?” the operator continued.
“Some sort of spray, and he put trash bags over us and took us to the ground,” the employee replied.
Dressed in a blue beanie, black mask, and tight black clothing, the suspect allegedly placed trash bags over both employees’ heads, taped their hands, and ordered them to get on the ground and close their eyes.
He allegedly stole between $10,000 and $20,000 in cash during the two-minute robbery, according to an incident obtained by The Independent on Thursday. The employees were not injured and freed themselves before calling 911.
Portions of the the incident report are redacted, but the sheriff’s office did clarify one of the more bizarre elements reported about the case.
Reports initially claimed that the suspect swam up to the Paddlefish restaurant, a replica steamboat, stole the cash, and then swam away. However, the sheriff’s office told The Independent on Thursday that it never made that statement, and the police report does not mention it.
The report does note, however, that water was found “all over” the floor of the manager’s office. It also states that the suspect, described as a Hispanic man about 5’10’’ with a slim build, entered the office while an employee was depositing cash into the safe.
An initial search for the suspect yielded no results, and investigators continue to probe this sequence of events.
Authorities say the suspect was not armed during the robbery, although it is unclear what object they appeared to hold toward the camera in surveillance images, Fox 35 reports. Earlier reports indicated that it was a can of spray paint.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
A representative for Paddlefish told The Independent on Thursday to direct all questions about this alleged incident to law enforcement.
