A knife-wielding man who allegedly held up an Indio Denny’s restaurant Friday, injuring two employees in the process, was arrested after an officer spotted the suspect inside the alleged getaway vehicle in the Indio Police Department parking lot.
Christopher Scott Friedman of Indio, 68, was arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon after the 11:52 a.m. holdup of the Denny’s restaurant at 82120 Highway 111.
Police say Friedman approached the front counter and demanded money while threatening employees with a knife. After grabbing cash from the register, Friedman allegedly injured two employees, though police did not specify how the employees were injured.
The victims suffered minor injuries, Indio police said.
Friedman allegedly fled in a white minivan that was seen driving out of the restaurant’s north parking lot.
At around 1:15 p.m., a van matching that description was spotted by an IPD officer in the visitor’s parking lot of the Indio police station.
Friedman, who was sitting in the van’s driver’s seat, was “arrested without incident and the money was recovered,” according to police
He was booked into the Riverside County jail in Indio, where he was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail.