BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo man is facing accusations he stole not one but two different restaurant cash registers, and trying to steal a car.
According to Buffalo Police, 47-year-old Stephan Cooke's crime spree started just after 11 p.m. Thursday night at the Denny's near Delaware and Linden avenues. Cooke is accused of trying to pry the register open. But when it wouldn't budge, he ripped the register out of the hostess stand and left the restaurant.
Officials say hours later, around 9 a.m. Friday, Cooke walked into a McDonalds near Niagara Street and Hertel Avenue, jumped behind the counter, then ripped out the register before running up the embankment to the I-190.
According to Buffalo Police, a McDonald’s employee tried following Cooke, who then threw the register and pulled out a knife, threatening the employee.
Police say Cooke then ran across the northbound lanes, jumped the center median, and stopped traffic in the southbound lanes, where he forcibly removed a driver from a stopped vehicle and got in it. When he couldn't get the car going, he then jumped the center median and once again ran across northbound lanes before being arrested by officers on the embankment.
Buffalo Police charged Cooke with criminal mischief in the third degree, petit larceny, and theft of services, for the incident at Denny's on Thursday Night.
Cooke has also been charged with two counts of robbery in relation to the incident at McDonald’s and the alleged carjacking that happened on Friday.