Fast-Food Restaurant Robber Made Victim Act as Getaway Driver: Police

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GLEN BURNIE, MD — Police have filed 29 charges against a Glen Burnie man accused of using a knife to rob three Anne Arundel County fast-food restaurants in the past month and forcing a victim to drive him from the robbery scene.

Anne Arundel County Police on Saturday arrested Kelvin Thoeodore Johnson, 57, of the 7800 block of Freetown Road in Glen Burnie, for the three robberies at an area Arby’s, Checkers and Popeye’s restaurants. Officers who took Johnson into custody said he had eight baggies of suspected crack cocaine in his possession.

The first robbery happened just before 2 a.m. on April 18 at the Checkers located at 102 Mountain Road in Glen Burnie. A restaurant employee told police that while he was leaving for the night the suspect came out from the woods with a knife and took cash from the business.

Police say that on May 1 just before 2 a.m., Johnson robbed the Arby’s restaurant in the 8100 block of Ritchie Highway in Pasadena. As an employee was closing the business, a robber forced his way inside, took cash and fled.

In the third robbery, police say Johnson held up the Popeye’s restaurant at 8700 Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena about 12:25 a.m. Employees said Johnson held a knife and forced all three workers into a where the safe was located. The suspect took an unknown amount of cash from the safe and grabbed the employee’s cell phones.

When he fled the Arby’s, police say Johnson forced an employee to drive him to an area on Freetown Road. The suspect got out of the vehicle and fled on foot; the driver was not hurt.

A total of 29 charges were filed against Johnson, including: armed robbery, robbery, theft, carjacking and kidnapping – all felonies – along with misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and malicious destruction of property.

Johnson is currently being held without bail in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Detective Mark Zukowski at 410-222-3433.

»Photo of robbery suspect Kelvin Thoeodore Johnson of Glen Burnie, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police