NewsCrime

Actions

Man accused of holding Denver restaurant hostage is charged with kidnapping, robbery

Posted at 3:30 PM, Oct 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-16 17:30:27-04

DENVER — A man accused of holding several people hostage at a Denver restaurant on Sunday night has been charged with kidnapping, robbery and other counts in the incident, the Denver District Attorney's Office announced Friday.

Justin Shayne McBride, 46, faces two counts of second-degree kidnapping, aggravted robbery, failure to leave premises, six counts of menacing, six counts of false imprisonment, and two counts of sentence enhancing crime of violence.

On Sunday at 8:30 p.m., McBride allegedly falsely imprisoned several people at The Pig & The Sprout restaurant, located at 1900 Chestnut Place in Denver’s Union Station neighborhood.

McBride carried a rifle in a case into the restaurant, according to a probable cause statement. He then allegedly walked over to the bar and took the rifle out of the case. The restaurant manager, who spotted this as it was happening, yelled for customers to leave the restaurant. According to the probable cause statement, McBride went upstairs as people fled out of the restaurant, and the customers on the upper floor hid themselves in the employee locker room.

As he went upstairs, McBride ate food and drank liquor, according to the probable cause statement.

When he reached the second floor, he tried to open the door to the locker room and "began to enter the room with the muzzle of his gun pointing first," according to the probable cause statement. The people inside pushed the door close and started placing items in front of it to prevent McBride from entering.

McBride tried to open the door again but was unsuccessful. Instead, he began placing furniture in front of the door, according to the probable cause statement.

Around this time, Denver Metro SWAT and hostage negotiators had responded to the scene.

McBride used cell phones left behind by customers who had fled to communicate with the negotiators, according to the probable cause statement. He refused to cooperate with their commands.

Denver Metro SWAT then entered the restaurant and arrested McBride at 1:20 a.m. Monday.