SIMI VALLEY : Armed Man Robs Fast-Food Workers

A masked, armed man robbed three Taco Bell workers of $260 cash and two gold necklaces in Simi Valley Wednesday night before tying them up and leaving them in a walk-in freezer, police and employees said Thursday.

Police said a man in his mid-20s approached one of the workers while he was taking out the trash in the rear of the building on Tapo Street at 11:20 p.m. Wielding a small-caliber handgun, the man ordered the worker into the building where they joined two other employees, police said.

The man then demanded entry into the restaurant safe, but the employees told him that they had no key, police said. He took their money and the necklaces and fled, leaving them in the freezer.

Restaurant manager Rodolfo Buencil, 22, said the robber took $200 in rent money from his wallet and two gold chains from his neck. The thief also made off with about $30 from each of the other two workers, Roberto Ortiz, 22, and Julio Farraez, 21.

Buencil said the robber dropped the emptied wallets in the freezer. A friend who came to pick up one of the workers rescued them about 10 minutes later from the unlocked freezer.