Cops arrested a man 19 minutes after robbing a Patchogue McDonald’s Saturday afternoon.
Craig Gernett reportedly walked into the McDonald’s, 499 Sunrise Highway, at around 1:05 p.m. Saturday and a few minutes later demanded money at the counter and verbally threatened violence, while making a motion that indicated he had a gun, cops say. The McDonald’s employee complied with Gernett’s demands and handed him several hundred dollars to which Gernett told the employee he was going to come back and kill her before running off.
Gernett reportedly ran across the four lanes of Sunrise Highway Service Road and six lanes of Sunrise Highway into the nearby Shore Motor Inn. A witness, who saw Gernett run across Sunrise Highway, thought it looked suspicious, and watched Gernett go into his hotel room before notifying police officers what room he went into.
Officers arrested Gernett at 1:37 p.m. and found a portion of the proceeds in his pocket. He was charged with Robbery 1st Degree and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on July 29.
According to police, Gernett’s last known address is a halfway house in Brooklyn. He is also wanted for an escape warrant by the U.S. Marshals Service.
