Three Aurora men have been charged in connection with the armed robbery of a KFC restaurant Thursday that left three employees shot.
Claude Jackson, 45, of the 1100 block of Liberty Street and Joshua Scott, 26, of the 1800 block of Thornapple Way, were each charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and single counts of armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
Chase West, 19, of the 700 block of Columbia Street, was charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of armed robbery, police said.
Police said two males -- one armed with a rifle and the other wearing a mask -- walked into the restaurant in the 1300 block of East New York Street at around 8:30 p.m., announced a robbery, and at some point started firing shots.
Charging documents show Jackson, armed with a rifle-type firearm, and West ordered three employees to the front of the store. When Jackson discovered none of them could open the cash register, he allegedly shot each of them once, police said.
"This was brazen. It was violent. It's really a shocking, shocking crime," said Ofc. Dan Ferrelli with the Aurora Police Department.
Ferrelli said three male employees of the restaurant -- ages 17, 19 and 24 -- were hit by gunfire. A fourth female employee hid in a closet and was unharmed. The two older males took bullets to the torso and were critically wounded, although their conditions had stabilized Friday and they were expected to survive. The 17-year-old was shot in the leg.
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Police say the suspects fled the scene in a Cadillac Escalade, allegedly driven by Scott, roughly eight blocks to Jackson's home, which he shares with 23-year-old Fatima Robertson.
"I have been living here 10 years, and it seems like the violence is getting to us again," nearby resident Melina Chavez said.
Officers responding to the scene recognized the robbery as similar to recent armed robberies in both Aurora and unincorporated Aurora where Robertson was allegedly looked at as a suspect and also involved the getaway vehicle, which was registered to Scott.
The three men, along with Robertson, were taken into custody within about 10 minutes of the robbery, police said in a release Sunday.
Jackson was initially released following his arrest but was later linked to the robbery and taken back into custody just before 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 2300 block of North Farnsworth Avenue.
Police said the gun believed to have been used in the robbery was located at the Liberty Street home.
Robertson was also charged late Saturday with armed robbery in connection with the holdup of an auto repair store in unincorporated Aurora on July 22 and a Mexican restaurant on Aug. 4 in the 400 block of Hinman Street in Aurora.
In both of those incidents, police allege Robertson entered stores with a male accomplice who was armed with a rifle-type weapon.
In the auto shop robbery, $2,000 was stolen and no money was taken from the restaurant after two employees working at the time locked themselves in an office. Both of the investigations are ongoing as police said they are working to identify the alleged accomplice.
Charging documents indicate Robertson, Scott and West are all on parole, police said.
Bail was set at $2 million for Robertson and Jackson and $1.5 million for Scott and West Sunday.
