Columbia police investigate armed robbery at China Moon on Rangeline

Columbia police confirmed to ABC 17 News they were investigating an armed robbery at the China Moon restaurant on Rangeline Saturday night.

The call came out around 10 p.m.

Officers on the scene told ABC 17 News three suspects wearing ski masks came in with guns, restrained all employees in the store and made off with cash.

Police said they found one mask that had been discarded on Kennesaw Ridge.

This is similar to four other business robberies in Columbia over the last week and half.

The suspects in all incidents remain on the run.

Employees at China Moon told ABC 17 News they had to call police earlier in the week after a man matching the suspect description of the other four robberies came in and seemed to be taking video of inside the restaurant while he was ordering. That made the manager order security cameras, which came only hours before the robbery occurred.

Unfortunately, those cameras weren’t turned on yet.

Next door, employees at La Siesta said they also experienced a suspicious incident last week where they believe two men were casing them.

Cashier Mickey Duncan said he thinks they could be next.

“Every night, we started taking all the money out of the cash register and we’re constantly watching the door,” Duncan said. “Obviously we’re doing our best to prevent it, but if it does happen, we’ll do our best to keep everyone safe.”

No one has been injured in any of the robberies, but area businesses said they feel on edge while the robbers are still on the run.

Employees at several of the businesses have told us the suspects are two black men, 5’7″, slim build, between 17-25 years old, wearing dark clothing. They weren’t sure what the man keeping lookout outside looked like.