For immediate useNov. 11, 1997 -- No. 840

Safe taken from Carolina Inn during early-morning robbery

CHAPEL HILL – Robbers escaped with a cast-iron safe from the Carolina Inn early this morning (Nov. 11) after one of them apparently jumped the front desk and herded two employees into a nearby office, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Police.

No one was injured in the incident, and UNC-CH police are continuing their investigation, said Maj. Jeff McCracken. Neither of the two thieves displayed a weapon, but one of them kept his left forearm under his shirt as if he had a gun. The safe contained an estimated $942 in cash and a woman's wallet with $50. The safe is valued at $2,500.

The Carolina Inn incident follows one arrest in connection with an Oct. 20 armed robbery in which an undisclosed amount of money was stolen from a locked office in the Union Station snack bar at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. A female student employee was held at knife point during that earlier theft.

“The university is actively reviewing our security systems in those areas in which cash is present,” said Dr. Elson S. Floyd, executive vice chancellor. The university owns the Carolina Inn and leases it to the Arizona-based Doubletree hotel chain.

Monday's case began about 3:45 a.m. when a black male appeared behind the inn's front desk and walked into an office where the desk clerk was working, according to UNC-CH police. Investigators believe the man jumped the desk because doors leading to the office were locked. The suspect gave the clerk a note demanding money. When the clerk said he had no money, the man turned his attention to the nearby safe and made the employee help him move it toward the front desk.

Police said the man then ushered the front desk clerk and the night manager into another office, told them not to leave and made them disconnect the telephone in the room. A few minutes later, the suspect returned to ask for directions to a dolly. He left and did not return. The employees waited 15 to 20 minutes before coming out of the unlocked room, calling UNC-CH police and discovering the safe gone.

Police describe the man believed to have jumped the front desk as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 165 pounds in his late 20s with short black hair and wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. The other suspect was described as a black male, 6 feet 1 inch tall, 185 pounds, in his mid 20s, and wearing a gray cap, gray jacket and blue jeans.

A Carolina Inn security officer told police that both suspects entered the hotel about 3:10 a.m. and asked to see a room. After doing so, the suspects drove away -- apparently until returning and surprising the desk clerk in the office, police said.

UNC-CH police are listing the case with Crimestoppers. Anyone with information they wish to share on a confidential basis is urged to call the Carrboro-Chapel Hill-UNC Crimestoppers, 942-7515. A reward will be offered.

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News Services contact: Mike McFarland

UNC-CH police contacts: Maj. Jeff McCracken, (919) 966-4994, Lt. Angela Carmon, 966-3230