AN IRISH-AMERICAN cop couple are being hailed as heroes after foiling a robbery attempt on a fast-food restaurant in the US during what was supposed to be their “date night”.
Detective Chase McKeown and his wife and fellow police officer Nicole McKeown were enjoying a bite to eat in the Louisville, Kentucky branch of Raising Cain’s Chicken Fingers when a masked gunman entered the fast food outlet on Saturday, February 15.
As ABC News affiliate WHAS reports, the gunman approached the restaurant’s till before revealing he was carrying a firearm and intended to use it unless staff handed over all of the available cash.
Unbeknownst to the would-be robber, the ever-vigilant McKeowns were watching the unfolding events from the back of the restaurant.
The couple actually met while working at the local Elizabethtown Police Department where Chase was a patrol officer and Nicole a dispatcher.
They got married six months ago and have been enjoying “date nights” ever since.
Few have been quite as thrilling as this one though.
Moving quickly, the couple split up, taking different routes to the front of the restaurant where the robbery was unfolding.
Once there, they drew their weapons on the would-be bandit who, realising the odds were stacked against him, decided to drop the gun and make a run for it.
“They were on a date night when an armed man with a mask attempted to rob the cashier,” the Elizabethtown Police Department (EPD) said in a statement posted on social media.
“Both drew their off-duty weapons and apprehended the suspect. They held him at gunpoint until Louisville Metro Police Department officers arrived.”
According to WHAS the suspect was subsequently picked up where he was eventually named as Justin Carter, a convicted felon carrying a stolen firearm.
He is due in court on February 25.
All in a day’s work.
