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MIDVALE — Police have apprehended a man suspected in a slew of recent restaurant robberies.
Cameron Evans, 28, of Midvale, was arrested at about 9 p.m. Friday outside the Burger King located at 705 E. Fort Union Blvd. after he robbed the restaurant with a knife, according to Unified police Lt. Justin Hoyal.
"Detectives were strategically watching several possible locations that the suspect may go to commit another robbery," Hoyal said, adding that Evans matched the suspect's description.
Evans was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on 11 counts of aggravated robbery.
Robyn Goeller, who owns Car Concepts in Salt Lake City, said Evans, who went by the name Brady, was one of her top salesmen.
"He worked hard," Goeller said Saturday. "He was passionate about what he did."
Evans left his job to try and become a firefighter, she said, but he eventually returned and asked her son Ryan for his job back.
"He had confessed to Ryan that he had some trouble and he had gotten into painkillers and he was trying to straighten his life out, and would he please give him another chance," Goeller said.
But this time, Evans wasn't that stellar employee she once knew. Goeller claimed Evans took expensive store equipment, sold it online and pocketed the money.
Goeller's son called police and in 2011, and prosecutors charged Evans with theft. Court records show he pleaded guilty the following year.
Evan's former employer said she was saddened to see his mugshot in the news Saturday.
"I was hoping in 2012 that would have been a wake-up call," Goeller said.
Police say Evans committed at least seven aggravated robberies in and around Taylorsville over the past two weeks. Security footage of the robberies shows a man brandishing a large knife, his face hidden by a black and grey scarf.
The man was originally implicated in the armed robbery of a Taylorsville Taco Time on Tuesday. In working to identify the man, police determined the he may be responsible for four prior robberies, along with Thursday’s robbery of Ganesh Indian Cuisine in Midvale.
Evans allegedly began his crime spree by robbing Millcreek’s Namaste Groceries and a Taylorsville Arctic Circle on Jan. 9. He is also suspected of robbing India Foods on Jan. 12 and John’s Market on Jan. 13.
The seven listed robberies have all occurred within Salt Lake County. However, Unified police investigators have been working with other law enforcement agencies to determine whether Evans has been involved in other robberies.
Contributing: Kyle Spencer
Allison Oligschlaeger is currently studying English and Arabic at the University of Utah while completing an internship with the Deseret News. Contact her at aoligschlaeger@deseretnews.com.
