BELMONT, N.C. — A father and his 12-year-old daughter were carjacked at gunpoint at a Waffle House in Belmont on Sunday. The man’s wife told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they had just gotten inside their SUV when it happened.
Officers were called for an armed robbery around 9:45 p.m. to the restaurant at 603 Park Street, the Belmont Police Department said. It’s located between Interstate 85 and Highway 29.
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At the scene, the officers found the man and his daughter who had been robbed in the parking lot. The suspects stole the man’s wallet and his 2016 Black Chevrolet Tahoe.
No one was hurt, police said.
Faherty spoke with Yesinia Alvarado, the wife of the man who was carjacked. She showed Faherty a photo of her daughter, telling him in Spanish that her daughter ran back into the restaurant after the men approached the SUV and told them to get out.
Alvarado said they pointed the gun at her husband -- she doesn’t know if the pointed it at her daughter. All she knows is that her daughter was able to run back into the Waffle House.
Officers only had vague descriptions of the three suspects, saying they wore ski masks. The tag number for the SUV is TLZ1099. The suspects headed toward Interstate 85 and Park Street when they left the scene, investigators said.
Police shared video of the suspects taken moments before the crime at a nearby restaurant.
Alvarado is thankful her husband and daughter weren’t hurt and hopes police find the SUV and the people responsible. It may be some time before her daughter recovers from this.
“She is traumatized,” she said. “She is very nervous and it’s like she is disoriented.”
Workers at the Waffle House said there are surveillance cameras that may have captured a portion of that robbery. The restaurant says it is working with investigators on this case.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Det. Rumney at 980-525-2131.
(WATCH BELOW: Man accused of shooting, carjacking mail carrier in western NC taken into custody)
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