No one injured
Delaware State Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the armed robbery of a Chinese restaurant that occurred late Thursday afternoon.
The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1, at the First Wok Chinese Restaurant located at 24832 John J. Williams Highway in Millsboro. The owner of the business advised that a subject had entered the restaurant displaying a handgun and demanding money. The owner complied and turned over an undisclosed amount of cash before the suspect fled the scene on foot toward the rear of the business.
Also present in the restaurant during this incident were three employees and two children. No one was injured as a result of this incident.
Later that evening, around 11 p.m., further investigation led detectives to the Sea Esta Motel II, located at 100 Rudder Road in Long Neck. Members of the Sussex Governor's Task Force and Major Crimes Unit observed the suspect exit a vehicle in the parking lot and subsequently took 31-year-old Christopher Pfaffenrath, of Millsboro, into custody without incident.
A search warrant was obtained for both the motel in which Pfaffenrath was staying and also his residence, located in the 30000 block of Kill Deer Lane in Pot Nets Bayside. Upon execution of the search warrant in Pot Nets, detectives located an airsoft BB gun, a sweatshirt and black hat that were consistent with the clothing worn during the robbery.
Pfaffenrath was charged with first-degree robbery, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, six counts of first-degree reckless endangering and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He was also found to be a fugitive out of Pennsylvania. Pfaffenrath was committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $138,000 cash-only bond.