Jul 10, 2008 4:14 pm US/Eastern
3 Teens Arrested In Panera Bread Armed Robbery
NEEDHAM (WBZ) ―
Three men are being held on $15,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty to charges stemming from an overnight robbery at a Needham Panera Bread restaurant. A prosecutor said in court possibly $3,200 was taken.
Perckens Borde, 19, of Roxbury, 18-year-old Kermens Hylaire, of Brockton, and 20-year-old Herauld Laguerre are each charged with armed robbery and carjacking.
According to prosecutors, a manager left the restaurant just before midnight to walk to his car, which was on the far end of the parking lot. He heard rustling in the bushes and was approached by a masked man who demanded his money and cell phone and forced him into his car.
Prosecutors say two other masked men got into the back seat and asked him about the restaurant layout and surveillance.
Prosectors say the men escorted the manager, at gunpoint, back into the restaurant, made him open the safe and tried to destroy computer and surveillance equipment.
An employee who saw the men leave with a computer told investigators the suspects looked confused, then all got into a car.
A Newton Police officer stopped a gray Toyota that matched the description and arrested Borde and Hylaire. Laguerre, whose defense attorney says is a criminal justice major at a local college, allegedly fled into the woods and was arrested hours later. Inside the car, prosecutors say police found two pistols, which turned out to be pellet guns, as well as money and a computer.
The three defendants covered their faces in court on the advice of their attorneys. Defense attorneys say there is nothing to tie their clients to the crime, and that the money and the car belong to the mother of one of the defendants.
A spokesperson for Panera Bread says the company is grateful no one was hurt and grateful for the quick response by police. She adds, there are security measures at the restaurant and training for employees about what to do in the event of a robbery. She declined to elaborate.
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