Taco Bell Employee Charged For Faking Robbery


A Taco Bell employee and two of his friends were arrested after setting up a fake robbery at his place of work. Miguel W. Feliciano, 18, of Wildfire Lane, near New Castle, told police he had been punched in the face and had a knife to his throat, while a robber forced the manager of the restaurant to open the safe.

Only thing was, according to Senior Lt. Adam Brams of the New Castle police, Feliciano (pictured left above) was arrested a few hours later as he drove away in the alleged getaway car.

His two friends, Jaron V. Middleton, 19, of Bear (pictured center above) and 19-year-old Matthew W. Tormen, of New Castle (pictured right), have also been arrested.

According to Brams, Feliciano, who works at the Taco Bell in Airport Plaza in New Castle, was the one to initially report the crime at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Delaware Online quotes Feliciano as saying a robber had entered the Taco Bell store and punched him in the face. The man then allegedly held a knife to his throat. The same robber then held the manager at knife point, demanding that he open the safe.

As the robber left the premises, he emptied the cash register and then ran to a waiting car in the parking lot.

It is unknown how much cash was taken from both the safe and cash register. Brams continued that Feliciano had suffered a minor injury and refused medical treatment. Police accessed the surveillance footage of the robbery.

Police then asked for assistance in identifying the criminals involved in the robbery.

Later the same day, police spotted a vehicle which matched the one captured on the surveillance tape. It turned out the driver of that vehicle was Feliciano and his two friends, named above, were the passengers.

Fox Philly reports that later on, Feliciano admitted he had planned the “robbery” with his two friends and that he had wanted to “make it look real and planned to get struck in the face by another conspirator.”

It was apparently Middleton who entered the store as the robber, punched Feliciano in the face, and then left with the money. Tormen played the part of the getaway driver. While all three were playing parts, however, a crime was committed.

Feliciano was charged with theft, falsely reporting the incident, and conspiracy. Of the two friends, Middleton had been charged with first-degree robbery, aggravated menacing, possession of a deadly weapon, second-degree conspiracy, and wearing a disguise during the commission of a felony. The getaway driver, Tormen, is facing theft and conspiracy charges.

In other Taco Bell related news, it seems the fast food restaurants are attracting crime, as the Inquisitr reports a 27-year-old man is in custody after attempting to rob a Taco Bell in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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