Union Co. Man Found Guilty Of Robbing Scotch Plains McDonald's: Prosecutors

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ — A Plainfield man was found guilty on Wednesday of robbing a Scotch Plains McDonald's in 2015, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel announced Friday.

Thomas H. Outland, 49, was convicted on charges of second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery and fourth-degree possession of an imitation firearm following a six-day trial before state Superior Court Judge Robert A. Kirsch.

Prosecutors said this is the second time that Outland stood trial for this robbery.

Five years ago, in June 2017, Outland was found guilty by a Union County jury on the same charges. That conviction was eventually overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court in March of 2021 on the grounds that Outland was improperly denied the right to represent himself at trial.

Outland elected not to represent himself at the second trial, according to prosecutors.

Outland, and an unidentified conspirator, entered an unlocked door of the McDonald's on Route 22 in Scotch Plains at approximately 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2015, according to prosecutors. The two men were wearing masks and carrying firearms.

The unidentified suspect began demanding the cell phones of some of the employees who were cleaning the fast-food restaurant at the end of their shift. Meanwhile, Outland — a former employee of the restaurant — began walking directly toward the manager's office where a safe was located, prosecutors said.

But on his way, Outland was intercepted by one of the store employees who said Outland's weapon was fake and suggested that he could get killed, according to prosecutors.

Outland then removed his mask, lowered his imitation firearm and announced to the restaurant employees that his actions were a "practical joke," prosecutors said.

He and the second suspect, who never removed his mask, then returned the employees’ cell phones and immediately left the area, prosecutors said.

Following an investigation by the Scotch Plains Police Department, Outland was arrested in Jan. 2016 and indicted a month later.

The 2015 incident took place when Outland was out on bail in connection with another unrelated robbery that took place in April 2014.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office and the Plainfield Police Department found that in that incident, Outland and two other suspects made out with with approximately $35,000 in cash from a Plainfield check cashing store. A jury convicted Outland on multiple charges associated with that crime in May 2016.

On June 24, 2016, Outland was sentenced to an extended term of 16 years in state prison for the
Plainfield robbery due to his other prior felony convictions, with 85 percent of that term required to be served before the possibility of parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA).

Outland's sentencing in the Scotch Plains case has been scheduled for Aug. 19. At sentencing, the State will seek a term to be served consecutively to the 16-year sentence imposed for the Plainfield robbery.