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Waitress fired from robbed IHOP
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| Alecia Fowler, 41, of Conroe was fired from her job as a waitress at International House of Pancakes for having allegedly discussed a recent robbery at the restaurant chain with a customer. Fowler claims the termination was unjust. |
By LUCRETIA CARDENAS
Between having a gun pointed at her head during a robbery and losing her job, it’s been a rough month for a former waitress who believes she was unjustly fired from her job.
Just after midnight on Dec. 11, three men — including one with a handgun — took money and property from customers at the International House of Pancakes off Interstate 45 in South Montgomery County, Sheriff’s Office officials have said. The men also forced the restaurant manager to open a safe and struck her in the head.
No arrests have been made in connection with the robbery, MCSO officials have said.
Alecia Fowler, 41, of Conroe, was there that night, serving customers as she had done for the past three months. When the men entered the restaurant, the only thing she was thinking about was how to protect the seven customers and her fellow employees, she said.
“If I had to take a bullet for anyone in there, I would have,” Fowler said. “Almost everyone in there was 25 or younger.”
When she attempted to take control of the situation, Fowler said, one of the men threatened her life with a gun and held the barrel against her forehead. At another point during the robbery, one of the men had his hands around her throat, she said.
The manager gave the men the restaurant’s money and they left. After that, Fowler said, she insisted the restaurant stay open and put herself to work accommodating customers and Sheriff’s deputies.
MCSO Detective Paul Hahs confirmed that Fowler was a waitress at the restaurant that evening. Her physical description matches that of the waitress seen being escorted around the restaurant at gunpoint in video from the restaurant.
All IHOP employees were asked after the robbery to sign a document stating they would not discuss the robbery with anyone unless being questioned by law enforcement, Fowler said. But everybody at the restaurant — employees and customers alike — was talking about it, said Fowler and another IHOP employee, who would not give her name.
The only conversation Fowler said she had about the robbery was when customers asked her about it and she replied she was not allowed to speak about it.
Fowler was terminated Dec. 19. She doesn’t understand why, she said, but was told it was because she was talking about the robbery.
“They couldn’t have fired me for my job performance,” Fowler said. “I had a powerful personality that some people didn’t like, but they knew I got things done. Any major drunk that came in at night, I took care of. I have comment cards saying my service was excellent.”
When told she was being terminated, she asked her manager for the number to the franchise’s corporate office, she said. Her manager then asked her to leave the building and not set foot on the property again. The manager, according to Fowler, also told her she would never be able to work at an IHOP restaurant again.
A manager at the IHOP restaurant where Fowler had worked said he could not comment on the situation. Robert Tomlinson, vice president of operations for ACG Texas, the nation’s largest franchiser of IHOP restaurants, confirmed Fowler‘s termination but not the reason.
“With an investigation ongoing and her being one of the individuals who was there during the robbery, I cannot comment further,” Tomlinson said last week. “After the investigation is complete, I will have no problem giving more information.”
Tomlinson also would not comment on employees not being allowed to talk about the robbery, saying the company doesn’t want to compromise the investigation.
The job at IHOP was Fowler’s chance to change her life, she said. Previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance, she admits she’s not perfect. When she first began working at the restaurant, she was living in a hotel and trying to make ends meet.
But her work ethic earned her more responsibilities at the restaurant, she said, and she really felt she was starting a new life.
“If you look at my background, I look like a horrible, rotten person,” Fowler said. “I’m a recovering addict, but I’ve gone through rehab and I’m clean. I just want to work. … I just need someone to cut me some slack.”
Fowler is living with a friend, looking for a new job and disappointed that she won’t have Christmas presents for her four children and three grandchildren.
MCSO officials plan to have the restaurant’s video released soon in hopes someone will recognize the robbers and notify police, Hahs said, and detectives are working on some leads.
Anyone with information about the IHOP robbery can call Hahs at (936) 760-5876, Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at (800) 392-STOP or visit www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers.org.
Just after midnight on Dec. 11, three men — including one with a handgun — took money and property from customers at the International House of Pancakes off Interstate 45 in South Montgomery County, Sheriff’s Office officials have said. The men also forced the restaurant manager to open a safe and struck her in the head.
No arrests have been made in connection with the robbery, MCSO officials have said.
Alecia Fowler, 41, of Conroe, was there that night, serving customers as she had done for the past three months. When the men entered the restaurant, the only thing she was thinking about was how to protect the seven customers and her fellow employees, she said.
“If I had to take a bullet for anyone in there, I would have,” Fowler said. “Almost everyone in there was 25 or younger.”
When she attempted to take control of the situation, Fowler said, one of the men threatened her life with a gun and held the barrel against her forehead. At another point during the robbery, one of the men had his hands around her throat, she said.
The manager gave the men the restaurant’s money and they left. After that, Fowler said, she insisted the restaurant stay open and put herself to work accommodating customers and Sheriff’s deputies.
MCSO Detective Paul Hahs confirmed that Fowler was a waitress at the restaurant that evening. Her physical description matches that of the waitress seen being escorted around the restaurant at gunpoint in video from the restaurant.
All IHOP employees were asked after the robbery to sign a document stating they would not discuss the robbery with anyone unless being questioned by law enforcement, Fowler said. But everybody at the restaurant — employees and customers alike — was talking about it, said Fowler and another IHOP employee, who would not give her name.
The only conversation Fowler said she had about the robbery was when customers asked her about it and she replied she was not allowed to speak about it.
Fowler was terminated Dec. 19. She doesn’t understand why, she said, but was told it was because she was talking about the robbery.
“They couldn’t have fired me for my job performance,” Fowler said. “I had a powerful personality that some people didn’t like, but they knew I got things done. Any major drunk that came in at night, I took care of. I have comment cards saying my service was excellent.”
When told she was being terminated, she asked her manager for the number to the franchise’s corporate office, she said. Her manager then asked her to leave the building and not set foot on the property again. The manager, according to Fowler, also told her she would never be able to work at an IHOP restaurant again.
A manager at the IHOP restaurant where Fowler had worked said he could not comment on the situation. Robert Tomlinson, vice president of operations for ACG Texas, the nation’s largest franchiser of IHOP restaurants, confirmed Fowler‘s termination but not the reason.
“With an investigation ongoing and her being one of the individuals who was there during the robbery, I cannot comment further,” Tomlinson said last week. “After the investigation is complete, I will have no problem giving more information.”
Tomlinson also would not comment on employees not being allowed to talk about the robbery, saying the company doesn’t want to compromise the investigation.
The job at IHOP was Fowler’s chance to change her life, she said. Previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance, she admits she’s not perfect. When she first began working at the restaurant, she was living in a hotel and trying to make ends meet.
But her work ethic earned her more responsibilities at the restaurant, she said, and she really felt she was starting a new life.
“If you look at my background, I look like a horrible, rotten person,” Fowler said. “I’m a recovering addict, but I’ve gone through rehab and I’m clean. I just want to work. … I just need someone to cut me some slack.”
Fowler is living with a friend, looking for a new job and disappointed that she won’t have Christmas presents for her four children and three grandchildren.
MCSO officials plan to have the restaurant’s video released soon in hopes someone will recognize the robbers and notify police, Hahs said, and detectives are working on some leads.
Anyone with information about the IHOP robbery can call Hahs at (936) 760-5876, Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at (800) 392-STOP or visit www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers.org.
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