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Second valet at Bern's eatery robbed at gunpoint

Posted at 1:35 PM, May 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-30 01:58:51-04

A valet at Bern's Steak House was robbed at gunpoint while on duty early Sunday morning, Tampa police said.

It is the second such incident in the past month involving a valet at the upscale South Tampa restaurant. No suspect has been identified.

The victim, whose name was not released, told Tampa police officers he was confronted by an armed man wearing a bandana over his face shortly after midnight Saturday, a Tampa police official said.

The gunman demanded the valet, hired to park cars for the restaurant, hand over all his money.

When the victim complied, the bandit ran away.

No injuries were reported.

No further information was available about the amount of money taken.

The only description of the gunman was the bandana he wore to hide the lower part of his face.

Bern's Steak House released this statement about the incident:

"Bern's Steak House and it's related entities takes the safety of our guests and employees very seriously.  After the last incident, additional lighting was installed in the area, as well as modifying the fence along our property line to secure access. We are installing additional cameras and signage as well. 
Last night's incident, and previous crimes in the area, is an indication that there must be increased vigilance by all guests and residents of SOHO, and that we as businesses must increase security presence to prevent these criminals from invading a beautiful and safe neighborhood. Bern's has been the foundation of Howard Avenue for 60 years, and in that time, the block has changed significantly. We will be working with the local authorities and the SOHO business watch to prevent future incidents from happening. We want our guests, employees, and friends to know that SOHO is a safe place to live, work and eat. We will not tolerate anything less." 
 

Early this month another valet who works at Bern's told ABC Action News he was robbed at gunpoint while on duty. No arrest has been made in that incident.

Members are the neighborhood told Action News they plan to increase Neighborhood Watch activities to help decrease the chance of such incident from occurring.