A former employee hid in a storage room of a Manchester restaurant for more than three hours and then robbed and kidnapped a restaurant employee at knifepoint Wednesday night, police said.

Denson Negron-Acosta, 28, of 413 Juniper St. in York City is accused of robbing Manchester Café employee Panagiotis Papadiamantis and then forcing him to drive to York City, where Negron-Acosta got out of the car, according to Northeastern Regional Police.

Negron-Acosta is charged with robbery, kidnapping and burglary. He was remanded to York County Prison on $250,000 bail, according to online court documents.

He must also serve a mandatory 60-day sentence for a previous DUI charge, meaning that even if Negron-Acosta were to post bail, he would not be released from prison until he serves that sentence, a prison official said.

Knifepoint: Negron-Acosta was able to sneak into the 4302 N. George St. restaurant unnoticed a little after 7 p.m. and hid in a storage room for about 3½ hours until everyone except Papadiamantis left for the night, police said.

He was able to avoid detection by hiding in a corner behind or under items kept in the room, said detective Brain O'Melko.

"This guy was a former employee, so he knows the ins and outs of the business, O'Melko said.

Once customers and other employees left, Negron-Acosta, who wore a ski mask and gloves and armed with a knife, emerged from the room and put a knife to Papadiamantis' throat, police alleged.

Negron-Acosta allegedly forced Papadiamantis into an office and took an undisclosed amount of cash from a drawer and tired to get into a safe but Papadiamantis didn't know the combination. He also attempted to steal cash from Papadiamantis' wallet but found that the wallet did not contain cash and gave it back, O'Melko said.

Papadiamantis was then forced by Negron-Acosta to drive to Newberry Street, near Negron-Acosta's apartment, in York City where he got out the car, police said.

Arrest: Papadiamantis drove back to the restaurant, and family members called 911.

A responding Northeastern Regional Police officer viewed security footage with restaurant owners, who were able to identify Negron-Acosta. He was not wearing a ski mask as he hid in the storage room, police said.

With the aid of York City Police, officers arrested Negron-Acosta at his home late Wednesday night. Officers also executed a search warrant and found a knife and clothing matching those worn by the robber and cash in Negron-Acosta's apartment, police said.

Papadiamantis suffered a minor cut to his neck during the incident and was treated and released from Memorial Hospital, O'Melko said.

"It's a very heinous crime in my mind," O'Melko said. "I'm sure the victim was terrified."

- Reach Greg Gross at ggross@yorkdispatch.com.