Restaurant workers used food, chair and plates to detain armed KC robber: affidavit
A Kansas City man faces three federal felony charges after he was overpowered by employees of an Independence restaurant during an attempted armed robbery Monday night, according to court records.
Bryan C. Byers, 23, is accused of armed robbery, brandishing a firearm during a violent crime and unlawful possession of ammunition. Details of Byers’ arrest and the alleged armed robbery were outlined Wednesday in a criminal complaint filed with the Western District of Missouri’s Kansas City office.
According to an affidavit, officers with Independence police were dispatched around 9:30 p.m. Monday to the Lucky Buffet at 2931 Noland Road on a reported armed robbery in progress. The reports were made to police by the restaurant manager and a security alarm company for the business.
Officers went inside the business and found Byers on the ground in the restaurant’s vestibule. Employees identified him as the suspected armed robber, according to the affidavit. Byers was taken to Centerpoint Hospital for medical treatment.
An employee working at the restaurant’s sushi bar told police that a man had approached him and pointed a gun at his forehead. The witness said the man had given him five seconds to get cash from the register or he would be killed.
After the employee opened the cash drawer, he grabbed the gun from the man as cash was being taken from the register. Another employee told police he assisted with restraining the man and that a scuffle between them had unfolded near the restaurant’s entrance.
One employee alleged Byers stated “I will kill you,” before he was disarmed.
Police reviewed store surveillance footage that backed up the statements provided by store employees, according to court records. In the footage they saw a man robbing the cash register before getting involved in a fight with restaurant employees.
“During the physical altercation, a chair, plates, and food were used to restrain the suspect and keep him from getting away,” a detective wrote in the affidavit after reviewing the surveillance footage.
Crime scene personnel recovered a loaded desert-tan Glock 19. Also collected was approximately $873 in cash that was scattered across the ground.
Police identified Byers at the hospital using a fingerprint scan. According to court records, Byers was on probation for an earlier robbery and has two felony convictions — attempted armed robbery and motor vehicle theft — for which he was sentenced in June 2018.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 4:31 PM.
