WORKER ALLEGEDLY ROBBED SHAKE SHACK, RETURNED IN UNIFORM
A Phoenix Shake Shack robbery allegedly ended in an arrest after the suspect, a worker who called out, returned in uniform two days later.
Keondre Simmons, 33, was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping after the alleged robbery at the Shake Shack in Kierland Commons in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 3, 2026. Phoenix police said he was arrested on August 5, 2026.
Fox News reported that Simmons allegedly called out of work around midnight on August 3, then went to the restaurant later that morning.
A masked suspect allegedly rang the delivery bell to get an employee to open the back door. FOX 10 quoted court documents saying the employee “opened the door after hearing the delivery bell, believing a scheduled delivery had arrived.”
Inside the restaurant
“When the door opened, the suspect pointed a firearm at [the employee], ordered him inside, and escorted him at gunpoint toward the walk-in cooler,” the court documents said.
The suspect allegedly locked the employee in the cooler with a latch employees knew about, AZFamily reported.
The suspect then allegedly made the on-duty manager open the store safe, AZFamily reported. About $2,800 in cash was reportedly taken.
Both employees allegedly ended up confined in the cooler. They escaped using its internal failsafe, AZFamily reported.
The suspect allegedly came back, ordered both employees to kneel at gunpoint and took their cellphones and the office landline, AZFamily reported. The phones were allegedly dropped into a sink filled with water, according to court documents.
Neither employee was physically injured, Phoenix police said.
How police zeroed in on Simmons
Investigators used witness descriptions, security footage and employee-only knowledge to identify Simmons, AZFamily reported. The two employees described “build, hairline, voice and mannerisms” that they said matched him, according to police documents.
The Arizona Republic reported that court documents placed Simmons’ phone near the restaurant around the time of the robbery.
Detectives reportedly followed Simmons from his apartment to the restaurant on August 5 and arrested him there. He allegedly showed up wearing his Shake Shack uniform, AZFamily reported.
Simmons told police he was “having a tough time” and had children, court documents said.
What happened next
Shake Shack said Simmons was no longer an employee. Chief communications officer Luke DeRouen said in a company statement that the company was “taking the incident very seriously.”
FOX 10 listed one count of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping. A judge set Simmons’ bond at $100,000, and electronic monitoring would apply if he made bail.
