Lancaster Movie Theater Robbery May Have Been Inside Job
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LANCASTER (CBSDFW.COM) - A dramatic scene played out at a Cinemark movie theater in Lancaster on Tuesday night, but it wasn't on the silver screen. Three armed men stormed into the theater at about 11:30 p.m. and robbed the business after beating up the location's 19-year-old male manager.
The victim appeared to be just fine. Police are calling this an aggravated robbery. No shots were fired during the incident. But there is speculation that the crime might have been an inside job, or at least planned by someone who has ties to the 14-screen movie theater.
The three men were somehow able to get through the doors, which lock at 11:00 p.m. when ticket sales end. Then, once inside of the building, they immediately walked to the location's surveillance camera and sprayed it with something. Because of that, and the fact that the armed robbers were wearing masks, authorities do not have a good description of the suspects.
Lt. Clifford Wherley once worked security at the theater, and is now investigating this case. "They obviously don't understand how camera systems work because, if they're spray painting the camera, that doesn't stop all the recording that it did before. It doesn't stop any type of voice recordings that they may or may not have," he said.
A police SWAT team responded to the scene and put the Cinemark movie theater on lockdown while films were still playing in front of audiences. This was due to fears that the gunmen might still be inside of the theater, blending in with the moviegoers after leaving the location's main office.
One witness said that he was halfway through watching "Bad Moms" when people suddenly started running out of the theater and being patted down by authorities.
However, the suspects were already on the run, fleeing on foot into a neighborhood located directly behind the movie theater property. The three men escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash and personal items from the theater manager, including the keys to his mother's car. But they did not steal the vehicle.
The three suspects are still on the loose. Police have called them armed and dangerous. "We've got some leads that we're going to follow up on," said Wherley. "We're going to, hopefully, get some surveillance cameras from the neighboring businesses and get at least, hopefully, a better description that we can put out."
Meanwhile, the movie theater has been operating as normal on Wednesday, though employees were asked not to speak about the case. Cinemark, which is based in Plano, has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident. "This is our neighborhood, man," said customer John Sibley. "I've got my tickets right here for 'Bourne' and I'm going to support this theater."