Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Jackson police units, with help from = the Amador=20 County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies, = respond to an=20 armed robbery call at Quiznos in south Jackson after a suspect = stole money=20 and assaulted an employee with his gun.

Photo by: Bill = Lavallie
A=20 brazen armed robbery at a Jackson sandwich shop Tuesday night has left = the=20 business' employees on edge and Jackson police searching for the man=20 responsible.

The suspect swept into Quiznos Subs on Highway 49 = carrying a=20 silver-plated handgun. Dressed all in black with his face covered, he = entered=20 the doors around 7 p.m., when other nearby businesses had closed for the = night.=20 Before the employees who were present could react, the armed suspect had = already=20 assaulted a young woman working behind the counter, pistol-whipping her = in the=20 head.

As the robber made his demands, a male dishwasher working = in the=20 rear of the store managed to discreetly slide out of the back exit and = make a=20 sprint across the street and up the wet landscape to the nearby Holiday = Inn,=20 where he frantically called 911.

Back at Quiznos, the robber = ordered=20 employees to hand over an unspecified sum of cash from the registers. He = also=20 stole credit cards, bank slips and the employees' tips for the evening, = skulking=20 back into the dense fog and disappearing into the darkness.

The = Jackson=20 Police Department arrived soon thereafter. With assistance from the = Sutter Creek=20 Police Department, the Amador County Sheriff's Office and California = Highway=20 Patrol, officers combed south Jackson looking for the suspect. Much like = the=20 Papa Murphys robbery incident that occurred in August just several = hundred yards=20 from Quiznos, the perpetrator managed to use the business' remoteness = from other=20 open stores and the cover of night to elude searching patrol units - = evidently=20 on foot.

The 18-year-old female employee from Quiznos who was = assaulted=20 had only worked at the restaurant for six days. According to Quiznos = owner Don=20 Bernasconi, it was the girl's first job.

"She was a real trooper = last=20 night," a tired and worried Bernasconi said Wednesday afternoon. "She = was=20 treated by paramedics on the scene and told what symptoms to look for in = case=20 she needed to go to the hospital later."

Bernasconi admitted the = thought=20 of his young employees being in danger left him with mixed emotions of = anger and=20 relief. "Understandably, my employees are really shook up over this," he = said.=20 "I'm just grateful none of my workers were seriously hurt beyond what = happened.=20 Everything else is replaceable. My employees aren't."

Bernasconi = went on=20 to explain that Quiznos would not be open for a number of nights this = week while=20 he considered what could be done to increase security. Possibly adding = more=20 outdoor light, he said, might be an option. He also questioned whether = the=20 worsening U.S. economy was playing a role in the increase of local = crimes like=20 what happened at his restaurant and the nearby Papa = Murphys.

Capt.=20 Christy Stidger of the Jackson Police Department explained that the = suspect in=20 question for the Quiznos robbery was around six feet tall with a medium = build.=20 The cash he took was in highly identifiable Umpqua Bank bags that read = "Jackson=20 Quiznos" on various parts of the bags.

"If anyone thinks they = might have=20 information about who did this, they should call us immediately," she = urged. "If=20 they don't want to identify themselves, they can call the secret witness = program=20 at 223-1142."

Bill Lavallie contributed to this = report.

Scott Thomas = Anderson