MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police are on the hunt for two men accused of robbing a downtown movie theater last week.
The robbery happened Friday night around 11:20 p.m.
Surveillance video released by Memphis Police shows the scary moments inside the Malco Powerhouse Cinema Grill.
For manager Britaney Lyons, it has been replaying in her head since last Friday night.
Lyons said the suspects told an employee they wanted to speak with her near closing time when the man in dark colored clothing asked if she was the only manager on duty.
“He said ‘well this is what I got to say’ and just reached in his right pocket and cocked his gun and aimed it at me and followed me into the office,” she said.
She said that’s when the suspect forced her to get cash as the second suspect stood as lookout.
“He demanded me to go into the room and gave me two plastic bags and demanded me to put the money in them,” Lyons said. “He was like ‘don’t do nothing stupid. I know y’all have a panic button. Open up the safe.'”
He forced the manager to open the safe and place the money in a plastic bag. The second suspect stood outside the office acting as a lookout.
Lyons said Malco does have security, but they were only outside that night. Since the robbery, she’s been afraid to go to work.
“It frightened me. I’m still frightened over it because normally when they get what they want they’ll shoot you,” she said.
In a statement, Malco Theatres said in part “In regards to theatre security, the safety of our patrons and associates will always be our highest priority. For security reasons, we do not publicly disclose our policies or operations, but can confirm that the manager followed company protocols accordingly. We’re satisfied that the policies put in place were effective and plan to continue following national standard best practices guidelines, as well as working closely with law enforcement.”
The men were last seen running eastbound from the theater.
Lyons said the suspects got away with over $3,000.
This robbery is just the latest crime to terrorize employees of the Powerhouse Malco theater.
In March of last year, a worker was in her car about to start her shift when she was carjacked by four teenagers – two boys and two girls.
WREG crime tracked the area and found that MPD has reported over 370 calls from robberies to thefts and breaking and entering offenses in the 38103 zip code since January 1.
The first suspect was wearing a black Nike hat, a black Carhartt jacket, black pants, and black shoes. The second suspect was wearing a black skull cap, a blue and red Nike jacket, black pants, and gray shoes.
If you have information on either of these crimes, you’re urged to call crime stopper at 901-528-CASH.
