Two men have been charged in the robbery of a college cafeteria at Loyola University in Chicago. They are being held on counts of aggravated robbery after they took money from the cafeteria manager at gunpoint on Friday. The man was then forced to empty out the safe that was on the premises, according to statements from the police and prosecutor’s office. The two men are Rodrick Moore and Martell Howze, 31 years old and 25 years old respectively. They are are facing two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of kidnapping over this incident.
Howze is being held on $150,000 bail after a hearing in front of Cook County judge Laura Marie Sullivan. Howze had worked in the cafeteria for quite a while and prosecutors say he spent months planning the robbery. Howze did not appear in court for the hearing. Â The robbery took place after the cafeteria had already closed, and Moore displayed a handgun and held it our to a cafeteria manager to see it. He then grabbed the woman and held the gun to her head, and forced her to give him the money which totaled more than $2,800. He put the money in his backpack and took the worker’s cellphone and her university keys before he left the scene.
After Moore had fled the scene, the cafeteria worker did the only thing that she could think of and pulled the fire alarm. She described the man to Loyola police and they searched and found him at a nearby ‘L’ stop, with the money from the robbery in his backpack. As the police conducted their investigation they found evidence that Howze was also involved in a the robbery and was connected to Moore. The gun, which was a replica pistol, the workers keys and cellular phone, were found near the station as well. According to police, Moore admitted to the robbery and the cafeteria worker identified him as well.