Robbery foiled by employee

University Police arrested two men early Saturday morning after an attempted armed robbery of a popular fast-food establishment near the corner of 40th and Walnut streets. The robbers -- one armed with a gun, the other with a knife -- entered Fingers, Wings and Other Things at 208 S. 40th Street through the back door at about 1 a.m. After some quick thinking by one FWOT employee, police arrived on the scene, arresting 18-year-old Ernest Chamberlin and his juvenile partner, whose name was not released. The next day, police also arrested a juvenile employee of the restaurant, who allegedly left the back door open so the robbers could enter. No one was injured during the robbery. When the two robbers entered FWOT at about 12:55 a.m., employee Cherlisa Farmer did not think it was a real robbery. "It was more of a shock," Farmer said yesterday. "I started laughing at them. I think I scared them more than they scared me." The suspects then forced four employees and one customer to lie on the floor of the storeroom and demanded the keys to the restaurant's safe. They even duct-taped another employee to the floor. Farmer, who took a training course on dealing with deadly weapons for her former job as a security guard, told the other employees not to talk at all. "I just tried to be as cool as possible," she said. "[The duct-taped employee] knew I had it under control when I said, ODon't say nothing.'" As night manager, Farmer had the keys on a chain around her neck, but she did not want the robbers to know that. While on the floor, she slipped the keys into her bra and told the two suspects that only the manager could open the safe. FWOT Manager Oliver Matthews was not on duty that day, but Farmer told the robbers that he was just down the street moving his car. She convinced them to let her call Matthews on his cellular phone. "I said, OCan I just call the manager, and he can come in here and you can get what you want and get out?'" Farmer said. Farmer then called Matthews, who was home watching television, and asked him where he was and if he had the keys. Matthews realized something was wrong, because an employee would never have to open the safe. "She just said some things to me that she never said before," Matthews said. "I whispered, OAre you being robbed?' and she said yes." Matthews then called the police and three University Police officers showed up minutes later. Officers Don Tolomeo and Dennis Daley chased the two robbers out the back door and apprehended them. The officers recovered a .25-caliber semi-automatic gun, a 12-inch knife and two ski masks. The two suspects were charged with robbery and possession of instruments of crime. The officers also took a male employee into custody for questioning after noticing him acting suspicious. He was arrested Sunday and charged with participation in a robbery. Matthews said he plans to improve security by buying a buzzer for the front door and changing the locations of the store's panic alarms.