Background: Paddlefish restaurant at Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida (WFTV/YouTube). Inset: A man in scuba gear who allegedly robbed the establishment (Orange County Sheriff’s Office).
Cops in Florida are searching for a scuba diver who allegedly committed a brazen robbery at a restaurant at Disney Springs in Orlando — and then swam away.
The incident occurred around 12:20 a.m. Monday at the Paddlefish restaurant in Disney Springs. According to a heavily redacted incident report obtained by Law&Crime, employees had closed the restaurant and were wrapping up for the night. A couple of employees were standing in the manager’s office when a man wearing a blue beanie, black mask and a wet suit with no shoes came barging in and pushed them into the corner of the office and ordered them “down.” He then allegedly made them close their eyes as he went for the safe.
Local ABC affiliate WFTV reported that the thief tied up some employees and stole thousands of dollars in cash from the safe. According to the incident report, the man made off with between $10,000 and $20,000.
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Office released a photo of the man covering a surveillance camera with black spray paint. None of the employees were physically injured. As the restaurant was closed, there were no patrons inside at the time of the robbery.
After making off with the cash, the man allegedly put his scuba gear back on, jumped in the water and swam away to an unknown location. The whole ordeal lasted two minutes, according to cops.
Paddlefish is on a replica paddleboat at Disney Springs, which features shopping and restaurants.
Cops have yet to make an arrest.
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