Two Palatine restaurants robbed in 2 days

Palatine police are investigating the armed robberies of two fast-food restaurants in the past two days.

The first occurred at about 9:50 p.m. Sunday at Panda Express, 1165 E. Dundee Road.

In an eerie similarity to the infamous Brown's Chicken massacre that occurred in Palatine in 1993, police said the two male perpetrators herded five Panda Express employees into a walk-in freezer.

The men had entered from a rear door and were carrying silver-colored handguns. Authorities said the restaurant manager was ordered at gunpoint to open the safe.

The robbers took an undisclosed amount of cash from the safe, police said, and then sent the manager into the freezer with the rest of the employees.

But unlike the Brown's Chicken crime -- for which one man has been convicted and another awaits trial -- no one was injured at Panda Express Sunday.

Police said that, after waiting a few minutes in the freezer, the Panda Express manager discovered the robbers had fled and called police.

In what authorities believe was an unrelated robbery, the following day, Monday, a man walked into the Arby's restaurant at 139 N. Northwest Hwy. at about 7:30 p.m. and placed an order.

When the clerk opened the cash register, police said the customer took out a handgun and demanded money.

Police said the robber took an undisclosed amount of money, exited through a south-side door and left the area. No one was injured.

Palatine police Cmdr. Sam Maki said the robberies do not appear connected though a connection hadn't been entirely ruled out yet.

Anyone with information on either robbery is asked to contact Palatine police at (847) 359-9000.