‘She was going to shoot me.’ Local Parkland coffee-stand baristas robbed at gunpoint

A woman who robbed a Pierce County coffee stand on Thursday left the owner and her staff rattled.

Pierce County deputies were dispatched at 6:34 a.m. to an armed robbery at Revive Coffee in the 10000 block of Sales Road South , according to sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss.

Payton Jones, who has been the owner of Revive Coffee for about 10 years, said she and her employee were inside the coffee stand helping a customer. A vehicle pulled behind the customer, and then backed out to park by a tree.

There was a man and woman inside the vehicle who looked like they were waiting for the customer to leave, Jones said. Once he left, the woman, who had a hoodie on her head and was wearing a mask, approached the stand. She was carrying something that looked heavy and was covered by a blanket or jacket.

Jones said she immediately slammed the window shut, and the woman tried breaking in with the gun. The woman eventually got through the window.

“My adrenaline was pumping, and I was in that moment trying to think of what to do. It was very scary,” Jones said. “I really thought I was not going home.”

Security footage from the coffee stand showed the woman saying she was “going to blow this [explicit] up,” Moss said. The woman told Jones and the barista to hurry up.

The woman was heard saying in the video, “I don’t want to kill you, I don’t wanna kill none of you.”

Jones said the woman stole about $100, and the robbery lasted less than a minute. Jones immediately called 911 and told her employee to take the rest of the day off.

“I just am so grateful that the outcome was what it was. It’s the best outcome that could have happened,” Jones said.

Jones’ employee was very shaken up from the robbery and put in her two weeks notice. She had been working as a barista at Revive for about two and a half years and will now be taking a break from the coffee industry.

“She’s been one of my best employees that I’ve had,” Jones said. “She shows up to work, she does her job. She’s very sweet.”

Jones said business continued as usual, and she had to power through the rest of the day.

“It’s part of being a business owner and a small business owner at that. I work for $0 an hour, so all the hard work and sacrifice I have to put into the place to make it succeed,” she said.

Jones said that following the robbery, Revive Coffee will not be taking cash any longer. Customers will have to use credit or debit cards. She is also going to get more security cameras.

“If anybody knows anything or recognizes the woman or the car or, you know, maybe they recognize her voice or the clothes that she was wearing, please come forward and contact the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department so we can get justice,” she said.

Moss said the man and woman were driving a white Chrysler sedan with no plates. The driver is suspected to be an African American man in his 30s and 6-foot-2. He is about 230 pounds with a larger build. The man was wearing a black hoodie and black mask.

The woman was about 5-foot-7 and about 180 pounds. She was wearing a black mask with a wrap over her face.

Anyone with information that could help the investigation can contact the Sheriff’s Department or leave a tip at Crime Stoppers .