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Customers drink as robbers stick up Memories Lounge in Sarasota

Posted at 9:12 AM, Jun 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-20 09:12:52-04

(WFLA-NBC NEWSCHANNEL) Two armed robbers ran into Memories Lounge in Sarasota with guns drawn Sunday and quickly robbed the place while patrons were drinking just feet away.

Security footage shows some of those patrons were so oblivious, they didn't even realize a robbery was going on right in front of them.

One of the robbers brandished a shotgun and the other carried an assault rifle.

Once inside, the two men shoved their way toward the bar, pushing customers out of their path. They then marched the bartender over to the register with his hands held high.

"One of the bartenders came up to me and said, 'We're being robbed. Don't do anything, just give them the money from the register,'" recalled owner Stephen Acker.

"It happened so quickly, didn't really have time to panic," he said.

Acker saw one of the suspects racking his shotgun. He quickly gave them the money.

As all this was going on, most of the patrons didn't even notice. One man kept drinking just feet away.

"There were people asking for drinks whilst it was going on," said Acker.

The crooks eventually fled with a couple hundred dollars cash and two bottles of booze.

"They looked more scared than anything else. Anyone who uses guns to steal a couple hundred bucks are gonna be scared because they're not that bright," Acker said.

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