Avondale restaurant employee robbed at gunpoint while leaving work

Surveillance captured armed robbery outside The Brick Restaurant

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There's a crime alert in Jacksonville's Avondale neighborhood, where a woman said she was robbed at gunpoint while leaving work Tuesday night.

Dania Fadeley told News4Jax on Wednesday that she is still shaken up.

But instead of living in fear, Fadeley said, she wanted to speak out because she doesn't want the same thing to happen to anyone else. 

"I don’t want this to ever happen to any of my co-workers, anybody in this area," she said.

Fadeley has worked at The Brick Restaurant on St. Johns Avenue for four years. About 11 p.m. Tuesday, she said, she and her co-worker were walking to her car when two men ran up with a gun and very specific instructions. 

"(One of the men said) 'Don’t move. Don’t scream. Stay calm,'" Fadeley said. "At that point I knew I was being robbed and one pulled a gun out."

The armed robbery was caught on camera. On surveillance footage, Fadeley and the co-worker can be seen walking toward her car and then two men appear in the upper left corner, running toward the two. 

Fadeley's credit cards, cash and cellphone were stolen. The men then ran away down Ingleside Avenue.

But according to Jacksonville police, they are also investigation another crime: a person's car was stolen Wednesday morning. 

Fadeley said she’s concerned Avondale doesn’t have enough lighting at night. 

Steve Kunz, who owns The Brick Restaurant, told News4Jax he’s talked with Jacksonville City Council members about safety concerns. He was told that police will increase patrols in the area -- a plan that might help deter more crimes. 

"I am very thankful to be alive," Fadeley said. "What someone just did was a crime. I am glad they were human enough to not take my life or my co-worker's life."

Fadeley said she will courageously go back to work and hopes this never happens to anyone else. 

The men are described as African-Americans in their 20s or early 30s, and the gunman reportedly had a chrome pistol and a long goatee.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS. 

According to the JSO crime-mapping website, in the last 28 days, there have been 21 crimes reported within a 1-mile radius of the restaurant -- including six burglaries and six vehicle break-ins. 


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