IHOP off Washington Avenue robbed overnight

Overnight a busy IHOP near I-10 and Washington Ave. was robbed by gunmen who turned on customers when they couldn't rob the register.

The IHOP location in the 6500 block of Washington Ave. was targeted by two armed suspects just after midnight.

IHOP general manager Francis Ewah said Thursday morning that he got the call just after midnight from his employees that the restaurant had been robbed.

He learned that one of the suspects put a gun to the head of the cook in an attempt to get him to open the safe, which he could not do. The suspects were told that there was no cash register and only a time-delayed safe.

That's when they turned on customers, taking cellphones and cash, including $360 from one man, before fleeing the scene.

"I'm worried now that they will come back," Ewah said.

IHOP employees reported seeing two men but customers have said that they saw three men in total.

No injuries were reported.

The late-night diner is a popular stop for those partying on the busy, bar-heavy street and is located just blocks from Memorial Park.

News92FM reports that one of the customers was an off-duty police officer.

So far no descriptions of the two suspects have been released. They were clad in hoodies and bandanas, according to witnesses.

In August 2013 a similar robbery of a Denny’s location just across I-10 saw a gunman shoot and kill Robert G. Placette, 64, of Katy. An employee was also shot.