Buena Park : Second Suspect Arrested in Restaurant Robbery

Buena Park and Anaheim police Friday arrested a second suspect in Thursday night’s attempted robbery of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant where eight employees were held hostage briefly by a pair of bandits.

Acting on information supplied by the suspect taken into custody at the scene, officers arrested 23-year-old Daniel Hikes at his Anaheim home about 5 a.m. Friday, according to Terry Branum of the Buena Park Police Department.

Hikes and another man, 19-year-old Raul Hernandez, also of Anaheim, are accused of forcing a dozen restaurant employees into a freezer following a robbery attempt at the restaurant, located at 6851 Beach Blvd., Branum said.

A witness across the street observed a pair of men wearing ski masks follow an employee into the restaurant. The witness drove to the police station and alerted officers to the robbery.

When police arrived, Branum said, Hernandez left the front of the building, holding a gun to a female hostage’s head. Branum said that as Hernandez approached police, the woman broke free and Hernandez was subdued.

Branum said the hostage told police she believed Hernandez was going to shoot her and that she had nothing to lose by making a bid for freedom. Her successful attempt, he said, made it easier for police to capture Hernandez.

Special police and K-9 units entered the restaurant, but the second suspect apparently escaped by a back door.

Branum said the two men, who were booked for armed robbery and are being held in lieu of $25,000 bail, may also be suspects in several other armed robberies in Orange County during the last three or four months. After the investigation is complete, he said, the pair could also be charged with several counts of kidnaping in connection with the Buena Park robbery, he said.