ROGERS PARK — Two men who allegedly held up two Aramark employees with a fake gun and robbed a safe early Friday on Loyola University's lakeshore campus have been arrested and charged, university and police officials said.
The men approached two Aramark employees and brandished a black handgun about 2:20 a.m. Friday as the workers exited the west side of university's Damen Student Center, at 6511 N. Sheridan Road, Thomas Murray, Loyola's director of campus safety, said in a statement.
Charged in the crime are Rodrick Moore, 31, of the 6100 block of South Michigan Avenue, and Martell Howze, 25, of the 200 block of East 89th Place. Both are charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of armed aggravated kidnapping. Moore is also charged a second aggravated kidnapping.
They are expected to appear in court Saturday.
Officer Veejay Zala, a Chicago Police Department spokesman, said one of the employees had been "struck on the head" with the gun during the robbery.
The two employees were then ordered by the man to go back inside the building and into a room where a safe was located, Murray said.
They were then ordered to open the safe, Murray said, and the suspect fled the scene with the contents of the safe. Zala said the safe contained an undisclosed amount of cash.
One of the victims immediately called police with a description, Murray said, and campus police found the suspect nearby.
The suspect was arrested and the contents of the safe were recovered along with the handgun, which was determined to be a replica, Murray said.
The victims were not Loyola students, a university spokeswoman said.
Murray encouraged students and employees that if threatened with a weapon to follow the assailant's demands until it is safe to escape.
An Aramark representative at Loyola didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
