Photo: Louisville Metro Police Department
A man who allegedly attempted to rob a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday night picked the wrong place.
Just before 10 p.m., Justin Carter, 30, of Louisville, strode up to the counter at a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers restaurant with a white mask covering his entire faceand a gun in his hand, authorities allege, theCourier Journalreports.
Among those watching this unfold were two newlyweds in a back booth, who just happened to be off-duty police officers on a “date night” at one of their favorite restaurants.
“I saw her hands go up and I’m thinking,‘Is he doing what I think he’s doing?’,”Elizabethtown Police Officer Nicole McKeown said at a press conference Tuesday, CNN reports.
“We just looked at each other. ‘Is this what’s going on?’ Let’s go,” her husband, Elizabethtown Det. Chase McKeown, said. “Instincts took over and we just did like we felt we needed to do.”
Seeing the pair coming after him, Carter dropped the gun as he high-tailed it out of the fast-food eatery.
So did the crime-fighting couple,who chased him for about a block before they detained himat gunpoint in a backyard and waited for on-duty officers from the LMPD to arrive, local station WLKY reports.
Carter was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, receiving a stolen firearm and possessing a handgun as a convicted felon, court records state, theCourier Journalreports.
Justin Carter, 30, of Louisville, Kentucky.Louisville Metro Corrections
The gun Carter was allegedly carrying had been stolen from the Jeffersontown area, the arrest citation states.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Carter appeared in court Monday for an arraignment. He hasn’t entered a plea. His public defender did not immediately return calls for comment.
Carter remains held at Metro Corrections on a $50,000 cash bond.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 25 for a preliminary hearing.
Now, the couple can enjoy all the chicken they want at Raising Cane’s, where they said they ate on their wedding night six months ago after the restaurant announced it will provide the couple with a year’s worth of free food, theCourier Journalreports.
“Detective Chase and Officer Nicole McKeown, we know your date night got cut short, so we’ve got your Cane’s covered for the next year,” Raising Cane’s tweeted Wednesday morning. “Thanks for protecting our Customers and Crew.”
source: people.com
