Warrant: Defendant in Hibachi Burger robbery used gun

The defendant in the robbery of Hibachi Burger in Grove Center on Tuesday had a gun, and he showed it to several employees and customers, “placing them in fear of serious bodily injury,” according to court records.

Dominique Leshawn Gordon, 21, of Hamilton Circle, has been charged with aggravated robbery, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. He remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Thursday morning.

The affidavit said Gordon allegedly entered Hibachi Burger at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, and he displayed a firearm.

“The defendant demanded money from the register while displaying the firearm to several employees and patrons, placing them in fear of serious bodily injury,” said the affidavit, filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Detective A. Marvell Moore. “After obtaining the money, the defendant fled on foot. The defendant was apprehended a short time later by patrol officers.”

A police search found the money taken from the business, Moore said in the affidavit, which used information from witness statements, officer statements and observations, and video surveillance.

“The defendant did knowingly take the property of Hibachi Burger (U.S. currency) by violence, accomplished with a deadly weapon, by entering the business with a handgun and demanding money from the register,” the affidavit said.

A Tuesday evening press release from the City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Police Department said there was a brief foot pursuit after the robbery was reported. Police reported that employees at the business had been held at gunpoint, and the person calling 911 said a man armed with a pistol and a bandana covering his face had demanded money. He allegedly took the money and then ran out of the restaurant.

The affidavit doesn’t say how much money was taken or if it was all recovered.

The city said multiple police units responded to the scene immediately, setting up a perimeter around the area. The business owner told officers that he chased the suspect for a short time before they arrived.

At about 6:28 p.m., a man matching the description of the suspect was spotted by officers on Hamilton Circle. A foot pursuit began, and the suspect was taken into custody just a few minutes later on Hillside Road.

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said officers used a coordinated patrol strategy to set a fluid perimeter, which allowed police to “close off avenues of escape and reduce the area that the suspect had to hide.”

The ORPD night shift team was coming into work in their marked patrol vehicles and were able to immediately divert and respond to apprehend the suspect, Akagi said.

Anderson County jail records list additional charges against Gordon, although affidavits and warrants for the those charges aren’t available yet.

Gordon’s bond on the aggravated robbery charge, a Class B felony, has been set at $100,000.

More information will be added as it becomes available.