Photo courtesy of Lansing Township Police Department
—Two female MSU students working at a Jet’s Pizza location in Lansing Township were assaulted last week during an armed robbery at the business.
The two students, who are sisters, were closing up shop around 10:40 p.m. Nov. 6 at the pizza restaurant, located at 3009 Vine Street in Lansing Township, when two men armed with a shotgun entered the store and announced a robbery, according to a statement from the Lansing Township Police Department.
Both of the victims were physically assaulted and sustained injuries requiring medical treatment.
The suspects fled after taking an undisclosed amount of cash and still are at large, but were caught on surveillance tapes from the business.
The MSU Police Department’s K-9 unit attempted to track the suspects to no avail. The Lansing Police Department also assisted in the search.
The older of the two victims, who The State News did not name because the investigation is ongoing, said she had occasionally wondered about her safety when she was closing the restaurant, but hadn’t worried about it much until it happened to her and her sister.
“It could have happened to anyone,” she said. “It was scary.”
The victim said she didn’t blame anyone for what happened, but said the situation she and her sister went through could be a catalyst for Jet’s Pizza to examine how to best keep business employees safe.
“I think it’s an eye-opener for them to keep their employees safe and prevent this from happening,” she said.
The victim said she plans to continue working at the business and refuses to let the incident control her actions, although she said she doesn’t think she could work the night shift again.
“I am going back to work — I can’t let this totally tear me down,” she said. ”(But) I couldn’t close anymore after that. I don’t think I could handle it psychologically.”
Dave Mulford, a relative of the two victims, said it was “really rough” for the whole family to deal with such a violent and unexpected incident.
Mulford said what happened to his relatives should be a wake-up call for local businesses to prepare for such situations in case the suspects involved were to strike again.
“The community should be on guard for this,” he said. “Other small businesses and their employees could be susceptible.”
A manager at the Jet’s Pizza on Vine Street said Tuesday he was not authorized to comment on the incident. Emails to the owner of the business also were not returned Tuesday.
Anyone with additional information on the incident is encouraged to call Crimestoppers or the Lansing Township Police Department at 517-485-1700.
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