Olive Garden worker robbed and shot after he was lured out of restaurant, PA cops say

An Olive Garden worker was robbed and shot after he was lured from the restaurant a month ago, Pennsylvania officials say, and now a man has been arrested.

Authorities say the 22-year-old suspect kept asking to use “Matt’s discount” at the restaurant, TribLIVE reported. He was told there was no Matt who worked at that Olive Garden, but staff reported he continued vaping in the lobby and was asked to leave.

Accorie Wilder-Mack of Turtle Creek left the Monroeville restaurant at about 9:30 p.m. March 12, according to an April 19 news release from the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office.

He left the building but then began knocking on an emergency exit door to get a worker’s attention, officials said.

When the worker answered the door, Wilder-Mack again asked to use a discount, according to WPXI. The worker reported that Wilder-Mack was also on a video call during the incident, and the staff member recognized the voice on the other line of the call. Wilder-Mack told the employee that the caller was in a car in the parking lot, WPXI reported.

The employee “was lured” to the parked car, the sheriff’s office said.

He soon realized that the person he knew was not in the car, WPXI reported.

Authorities say the worker was robbed at gunpoint.

The worker gave up everything he had in his pockets, KDKA reported, and tried to grab the man’s gun.

“A struggle for the firearm ensued and two rounds were fired as the victim gained control of Wilder-Mack’s firearm,” the sheriff’s office said. “The victim was able to flee from the vehicle but was shot in the leg by an accomplice of Wilder-Mack.

“Wilder-Mack chased the injured victim into the restaurant, forcibly retrieved the firearm, and fled the scene,” authorities continued. “The victim was treated for his injuries by staff and transported to a local hospital.”

Officials did not provide an updated condition for the employee. He is 19 years old, TribLIVE reported.

The sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Wilder-Mack’s arrest on March 19, one week after the robbery and shooting, according to the news release. An outstanding criminal bench warrant was also issued on March 22 following a “violation of probation” in connection to the Olive Garden shooting.

On April 19, investigators got a tip that Wilder-Mack was staying with his girlfriend in the Borough of Pitcairn, officials said. Deputies showed up at her apartment and interviewed the girlfriend, but they did not find the man.

They did, however, find several of his personal belongings, and they “became suspicious of the girlfriend’s statements.”

Deputies and Pitcairn police officers then started searching the entire apartment complex, where they eventually found Wilder-Mack “hiding in an adjacent, unoccupied apartment that appeared to be under construction.”

Wilder-Mack was arrested and taken to the Monroeville Police Department, authorities said, and he was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, two counts of criminal conspiracy, carrying a firearm without a license, theft by unlawful taking, simple assault and defiant trespass.

The sheriff’s office did not say if his accomplice was arrested, and authorities did not immediately respond to McClatchy News.

Pitcairn is about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh.

This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Olive Garden worker robbed and shot after he was lured out of restaurant, PA cops say."