The 911 call made by a Disney Springs restaurant employee after a slippery thief wearing swimming gear allegedly stole $20,000 from the establishment has been released.
Audio released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday captures a female employee from the Paddlefish restaurant in Orlando calling police shortly before midnight on September 15 after the robbery had taken place. The restaurant was already closed to guests for the night.
“Can you describe the person who took the items?” the emergency operator asked in the call obtained by Fox 35.
“No idea, he was fully masked,” the employee said.
“Did he have a weapon with him?” the operator continued.
“Some sort of spray, and he put trash bags over us and took us to the ground,” the employee replied.
Portions of the incident report remain redacted, Fox 35 reports, and the sheriff’s office had no update on the investigation Thursday when contacted by The Independent.
Sources familiar with the investigation told WFTV on September 15 that the man allegedly swam up to the Paddlefish restaurant, which is a replica steamboat. Once there, he abandoned his wetsuit and scuba gear, then entered the manager’s office, where employees were counting cash to deposit into the safe.
According to a report from the sheriff’s office, the outlet reports, the suspect forced two employees to the corner of the room, ordered them to close their eyes, and tied them up before fleeing with the money.The employees were not injured and freed themselves, before calling 911.
Authorities estimate the stolen amount to be between $10,000 and $20,000.Investigators believe the entire robbery took about two minutes before the suspect exited the building and jumped back into the pond near the replica steamboat and swam away, according to WFTV.
An initial search for the suspect yielded no results, and investigators continue to probe this sequence of events.
One employee in the 911 call released Wednesday claimed the suspect was not speaking English during the robbery and carried a duffel bag.
Authorities say the suspect was not armed during the robbery, although it is unclear what object they appeared to hold toward the camera in surveillance images. Earlier reports indicated that it was a can of spray paint.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The Independent also contacted representatives for Paddlefish for comment.
