WEST HAZLETON -- Police say a woman is safe after she was taken hostage during an armed robbery and carjacking in Luzerne County.
Authorities told Newswatch 16 that the incident started as a hold up at Applebee's in West Hazleton just after 11:00 p.m. Sunday.
Police said the crimes happened just after closing, as a manager tried to leave after work on Super Bowl Sunday.
Two men are behind bars and a third is still on the loose after West Hazleton police say they kidnapped a woman, held her at gunpoint, and robbed the Applebee's where she works.
"It's something you would see in a movie and unfortunately it happened in real life here and it's a tragedy," said West Hazleton Ptlm. Richard Naprava.
Police said the manager of the Applebee's left the restaurant around 11 p.m., soon after the Super Bowl had ended. That's when they say Victor Soto-Santana, Pablo Valenzuela of Hazleton and another man followed behind her in a car, eventually rear-ending her vehicle.
When the woman got out of the car, authorities said one of the men pointed a gun at her and told her to get back in her passenger seat and one of the suspects took the wheel.
Police said when those men brought the woman back to Applebee's, they made her go inside into the office where she had to empty a safe. But when police showed up, those men made her lead them into a fenced area behind a dumpster to hide from police.
Police said the woman triggered a "duress" alarm inside which is why police showed up. At one point, the victim was able to get away and call her boss, but the three men found her again and forced her into a car.
When police tracked down that car in Hazleton, the three men ran off leaving the victim unharmed.
Authorities later caught up with Soto-Santana and Valenzuela, arresting them for kidnapping, robbery, and other charges.
"That's very scary. I mean you're coming off of work, you're tired, you want to go home and then you're going to have a surprise like that?" said Hazleton resident Elizabeth Reyes.
"You hear of robberies, stabbings, and shootings, but to follow somebody? In a car and hit them? Just scary, very scary," said Peg Lockwood of Hazleton.
West Hazleton police tell Newswatch 16 that the manager of Applebee's is doing OK.
Soto-Santana and Valenzuela are locked up at the Luzerne County Prison.
The third man involved is still on the run.
Victor Soto-Santana and Pablo Valenzuela are charged with kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap, robbery, and related charges.