A SUSPECT remains at large after threatening to throw acid over a restaurant worker during a robbery at a seafront restaurant.

The man wearing a face mask and sunglasses entered Burger King in Kings Road, Brighton.

He reportedly forced a till drawer open and calmly threatened a worker by saying he would throw acid over them.

Then the suspect took cash and fled in the direction of the city centre, towards Middle Street.

The Argus:

He is a young white man with short brown hair and wore sunglasses with black frames, a blue face mask, a dark blue hooded North Face jacket, light blue jeans and white Air Max trainers. 

Burger King said the incident happened in minutes, and fear the suspect had pre-planned the heist as “he knew exactly what he was doing”.

CCTV images have been released of a man police would like to speak to in connection with the incident.

The Argus:

Staff are said to be shaken by the robbery, and are giving statements to the police.
Police swooped on the restaurant, and it was closed from 1pm onwards, with no customers allowed in. It opened in April 2018.

Detectives and forensics experts were called to the scene and the cordon remained in place.

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One seafront business owner said: “It is a shocking thing to happen in the city. With Covid-19 happening, the last thing restaurants need is something like this. With the masks it shows how easy it is.

"For a young worker to be threatened with something like acid, or a knife, or a gun, it must be traumatising. Police came and parked outside, they were here very quickly.”

The Argus:

In a statement Burger King said: “A young man entered the restaurant and threatened the staff with getting acid over them if they did not move away.

“He pulled the till drawers out of the tills and took all the banknotes in the cash registers and then left the restaurant walking towards the town centre. 

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“It all happened in minutes. He was very calm and obviously had pre-planned this because he knew exactly what he was doing. Maybe he has done this before in Brighton”.

The Argus:

The police are trying to find the suspect and said: “We are appealing for witnesses after a man threatened staff with noxious substance before stealing cash from a till at Burger King in King’s Road, Brighton.

“Officers swiftly responded to a report of a robbery at the restaurant on Thursday just before 1pm. The man demanded cash after threatening staff. He took an unknown quantity of money before running off towards Middle Street. No staff or customers were harmed.

 

“The suspect is white, with short brown hair and was wearing black sunglasses, a blue face mask, a dark blue hooded North Face jacket, light blue jeans and white Air Max trainers.

“Any witnesses or anyone with information should report online or ring 101 quoting serial 607 of 20/08.”