3 arrested for attempted box-cutter robbery at Saratoga Springs restaurant

Three Utah County residents have been arrested and booked into jail in connection with an attempted aggravated robbery of a Beto's Mexican Food Restaurant in Saratoga Springs last December.

Police say a woman tried to hold up the eatery, 1314 N. Redwood Road, by pointing a razor-sharp box-cutter at an employee before demanding the cash register be opened. The employee escaped to the kitchen and the woman fled the scene in a waiting car.

After disseminating surveillance video of the robbery through the media, police identified the woman with the box cutter as a Lehi woman and arrested her on Jan. 22, a probable cause statement filed in Provo's 4th District Court states.

The 20-year old woman told police she and three others had plotted the robbery and that they wanted the money so that the could buy drugs, the court papers state. The woman said she went into the restaurant while the three others acted as "lookouts"and waited outside in a getaway car.

Also arrested was a 19-year-old Provo woman and a 39-year-old Orem man, who was already in jail. All three are now being held for investigation of aggravated robbery. A fourth person has not yet been located.

No formal charges have yet been filed.

jdobner@sltrib.com