Montevallo police are searching for a pair of suspects involved in a Jan. 24 robbery of the general manager of Alabaster’s Joe’s Italian restaurant.

The robbery occurred at about 12:30 a.m. on Ammersee Lakes Drive in Montevallo when Joe’s Italian General Manager Mary Bertolone-Carroll, her boyfriend and her mother, Elvira Bertolone, arrived at Elvira Bertolone’s house.

After the trio arrived at the residence, two suspects in a vehicle pulled in behind them before one suspect approached Mary, pulled a gun and demanded her purse, Mary said.

“The driver stayed in the car, and a guy in a ski mask came up to me with a gun,” Mary said. “I didn’t see anyone following me while I was driving from the restaurant to Montevallo.

“They aren’t sure, but there has been speculation they were probably waiting outside the subdivision for someone to pull up to the house,” Mary added. “It was extremely scary.”

After the incident, the Montevallo Police Department began investigating the crime, and is still searching for the suspects.

“(The police) think it was business related,” said Sonia Bertolone, Mary’s sister. “We live in Montevallo, so why else would they show up at our house like that?”

Although the Montevallo Police Department is investigating the robbery, other police departments have been working to ensure the Bertolone family is safe.

“The robbery evidently happened at a private residence in Montevallo, but we’ve talked with them to make sure they are safe here at their business,” said Alabaster Police Department Deputy Chief Curtis Rigney.