Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
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Newlywed cops enjoy off-duty date night at restaurant — until armed masked man walks in demanding cash. The lovebirds win this one.
February 19, 2020
The couple's church has been focusing on marriage — and encouraging once-a-week date nights
Detective Chase McKeown and Officer Nicole McKeown serve on the Elizabethtown, Kentucky, police force — and just got married six months ago, WDRB-TV reported.
They met when he was a patrol officer and she was a dispatcher, WEVV-TV said, citing the department.
"At our church, we've been focusing on marriage," Chase McKeown told WDRB, adding that weekly date nights also have been encouraged.
Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
So, on Saturday the off-duty couple drove to Louisville to enjoy a date night at Raising Cane's restaurant, the station said, adding that the eatery holds a special place in their hearts since it was the first spot they had a meal after their wedding.
But their fun wouldn't last.
What happened next?
At one point 30-year-old Justin Carter walked into the restaurant wearing a mask, WDRB said, citing an arrest report — and police said he pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
"I think we kind of both saw him at the same time," Nicole McKeown told the station.
She figured Carter was wearing the mask because it's flu season, and he might be sick — but WDRB said that as she continued watching, she knew something wasn't right.
Turning to her husband, she said, "That's kind of odd," the station noted.
Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
Then the couple realized a robbery was in progress, WDRB said.
Chase handed his cellphone to Nicole and told her to call 911, the station said — but she wasn't about to let him handle this one solo.
"No," Nicole recalled to WDRB, "I'm gonna help my husband."
The jig is up
Surveillance video shows the McKeowns leaving their booth with their guns drawn and racing over to Carter.
Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
With that, he dropped his gun and ran out the door, the station said.
Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
But the husband-and-wife cops were in hot pursuit.
Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
WDRB said they held Carter at gunpoint a few blocks away until Louisville police arrived to arrest him.
Carter has pleaded not guilty to robbery, receipt of stolen property, and being a felon in possession of a gun, the station said.
Image source: WDRB-TV video screenshot
'We are extremely blessed that they chose to dine with us'
Detective Dan Mason of the Louisville police said the McKeowns acted "honorably and heroically," WDRB reported.
"We are extremely blessed that they chose to dine with us," a Raising Cane's representative added to the station. "It's because of good people like Chase and Nicole who give us good hope for tomorrow … we'll never be able to thank them enough."
Anything else?
Chase said he and his wife don't feel like heroes, noting to WDRB that their "training kicked in."
Nicole added to the station that they'll definitely be returning to the scene of the crime for another bite to eat: "Oh absolutely, I love Raising Cane's."
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Sr. Editor, News
Dave Urbanski is a senior editor for Blaze News.
DaveVUrbanski
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