Police: Red Robin employee murdered during robbery attempt at Scottsdale Pavilions

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - Detectives say the body found by Salt River Police inside a Red Robin Sunday was an employee of the restaurant who they believe was murdered. They say it likely happened during a robbery. “That’s awful. We come here, it’s my son’s favorite restaurant,” Jennifer Driscoll said.

Carol Connelly-Ochoa said next door at Petco early Sunday morning and saw the crime scene tape up. “It’s a great little eating establishment. I mean all of the people that work there are very friendly, the manager, they’re all very nice,” Connelly-Ochoa said.

Officers said they received a call from a worker who said one of the doors to the restaurant on Talking Stick Way just east of Pima Road had been broken. When police arrived around 9:30 a.m., they said they called out to see if there was someone inside who would respond. When no one answered, they entered the restaurant and found a body inside. On Monday, police said the victim was killed during a robbery. Investigators have not said if the employee who called them is the same person found dead by officers.

“They’re worried about someone coming in; they’re afraid,” David Stovall, a service tech who was fixing the two broken doors, said.

Stoval told Arizona’s Family Red Robin’s management asked that he make replacing the locks on the doors a priority. “I don’t know if it was a bullet, hammer, rock, but something with force. Sent glass 20 foot into the parking lot,” he said. “I fix a lot of doors every day and this is pretty messed up, most of the stuff I fix is just wear and tear, but this was damage, physical damage,” he continued.

Police are asking that anyone who may have been in the area of the Scottsdale Pavilions on Sunday between 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. call the Salt River Police Department at (480) 850-9230. The employee’s name has not yet been released.

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