XENIA — Police said a man who tried to rob a safe at a Xenia McDonald’s prompting a SWAT standoff was a former employee.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6, Xenia officers responded to reports of a robbery at the McDonald’s at 1645 N. Detroit Street just before midnight on Saturday.
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Police said that a man later identified as Shawn Smith Jr. went into the store armed with a gun and demanded employees open the safe.
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“Slapped that firearm in an employee’s face and demanded that he remove money from the safe,” Sgt. Matt Miller with Xenia police said
Police said Smith walked into the store with his face covered to hide his identity, but employees couldn’t open the safe and the man ran.
Employees flagged down a couple of officers.
After an investigation and video from inside McDonald’s, police were convinced of one thing.
“The suspect was a former employee of McDonald’s,” Miller said.
Police later identified Smith who had worked there earlier this year.
They tracked him down about 12 hours later at an address on Lexington Drive.
“Due to the seriousness of the crime and the fact that a firearm was used, the Greene County SWAT team was activated and assisted,” Miller said.
Smith came out of the house and was taken into custody without any problems.
Smith is facing initial charges of aggravated robbery.
His girlfriend, Rebecca Shepard, who police picked up later at a traffic stop, faces charges of conspiracy to commit robbery.
Miller said she is accused of driving the car that dropped Smith off at the McDonald’s and picked him up.
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