By LEONARD GRAY – Managing Editor

LULING – The typical 4 a.m. unlocking of the McDonald’s Restaurant on U.S. Highway 90 turned for the worse, as an assailant jumped the manager and two employees, cleaning out the safe and leaving them tied and lying on the floor.

As the 47-year-old female manager, a resident of Avondale, unlocked the door to the restaurant at 12663 U.S. Highway 90, a black male lying on the ground, concealed by hedges, rushed the trio, displaying a handgun to the victims.

As the security code was unlocked, the gunman directed the two employees, a 19-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man, both of Luling, to lie down on the floor. Meanwhile, the gunman directed the manager to open the safe.

Once the money from the safe was handed to the gunman, he directed her to the floor as well, where he tied her. Once all three were tied, the gunman then cleaned out the cash from the cash drawers and walked outside, to flee in an unknown direction.

After he left, the manager called the sheriff’s office. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jay Landry at 783-1135 or Crime Stoppers at 1-877-904-STOP.

Informants do not have to reveal their name, and they could qualify for a $1,000 cash reward.