Burger King robbed of $1,500 in late night gunpoint holdup

The Burger King at 40th and Walnut streets was robbed at gunpoint last night by two men who escaped with $1,500 from the restaurant's vault. No one was injured in the incident, which occurred just under an hour before the restaurant's closing. After entering the fast food restaurant, a man with a gun leapt over the front counter, pointed a gun at the manager and forced her to the rear of the store to open the vault. While the gunman was retrieving money from the vault, the other suspect held customers and employees at bay in the store's eating area. The gunman, who wielded a 9-millimeter weapon, was described as a 5-foot-8-inch, 160 pound black male in his twenties wearing a black ski mask, black cap with red lettering, black pants and a black shirt or sweater. The other man was described by police as a 5-8, 175 pound black male in his twenties wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans. The two suspects fled Burger King in a red 1989 Ford Escort on 41st Street north from Walnut Street. A few customers attempted to enter the store during the robbery, but were told by one of the suspects that the store was closed, according to Burger King Training Manager Jane Rossi. The men also ripped the store's phones from the wall, forcing the manager to make calls from public phones outside. The restaurant had a closed circuit camera that recorded the incident, but Rossi said she didn't know if the men were recorded. Rossi, who has been working for Burger King for the last 20 years -- many times in West Philadelphia -- said she has never been robbed before last night. "This never happened to me, until now," Rossi said. "Probably tomorrow I'll freak out." Burger King was also robbed two years ago in October by two men.