Nashville Restaurant Robbery Suspect Tackled And Held For Police

From the City of Nashville:

February 3, 2021

Convicted robber Keenan Ty Cook, 34, is jailed in the Downtown Detention Center on a new charge of especially aggravated robbery after two employees (husband and wife) of La Hacienda Restaurant, 3760 Bell Road, received knife wounds during Cook’s robbery of the business at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Cook was tackled by one of the victims as he tried to flee. Patrons of the restaurant helped hold him down until officers arrived.

The female employee told detectives that she was working at the front cash register when Cook came in and ordered food. He then walked behind the counter and demanded money. The victim said Cook pulled out an object which she initially thought to have been a gun, but that when she reached for it, she was cut on the hand. Her husband, who was in the kitchen, heard a scream and came to the front of the restaurant to find Cook committing the robbery. As Cook fled, the male victim pursued and tackled him on the front sidewalk. During the ensuring struggle, the victim was stabbed in his abdomen and lower back.

Cook was transported from the scene to the Hermitage Precinct where he refused to be interviewed by detectives. A judicial commissioner set Cook’s bond at $150,000.

Cook was arrested in October 2017 for robbing the Exxon market at 4198 Murfreesboro Pike, the Delta Express market at 18 E. Thompson Lane, and the Circle K market at 2200 Nolensville Pike. He pleaded guilty in June 2019 and was placed on supervised probation.

Cook was also charged with robbing the Twice Daily market in October 2017. He wound up pleading guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor theft.

This press release was produced by the City of Nashville. The views expressed here are the author’s own.