FORT WORTH, Texas — Quick work from multiple North Texas police departments put two men behind bars after a late night crime spree targeting multiple Waffle House restaurants.
Fort Worth police said Justanity Johnson and Xavier Parham, both 18, were responsible for armed robberies at four Waffle House locations in a span of just 80 minutes overnight Sunday.
The teens have been charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
Police said the young men first targeted a location on Oakland Boulevard, before moving on to three other restaurants in west Fort Worth, Saginaw and Roanoke. Police say all four robberies followed the same MO.
Security camera footage from inside the Oakland location showed a man in a hoodie point his weapon into the restaurant. As customers and staff looked for cover, he appears to demand cash from the register and leaves after it is handed over.
"He would get money from the staff and then flee to the car and drive away," Fort Worth police detective Brian Raynsford said. "All of these robberies occurred at Waffle House restaurants."
Raynsford said Johnson and Parham were detained by Grand Prairie police a short time later, finding them in a stolen black Ford Mustang that matched a vehicle description.
Authorities are investigating whether the pair are also connected to at least three other recent Waffle House robberies in North Texas, including locations in Fort Worth, North Richland Hills and Bedford.
Two suspects, now feeling the heat after a strange crime spree targeting a familiar breakfast and late-night icon, and police hope to learn why they went after Waffle House.
"We're not sure of the reason why Waffle House was specifically targeted other than the fact that it's a 24-hour operation and it's open at all hours of the night," Raynsford said.