With help from his employees and a customer, a Northeast Philadelphia pizza shop owner helped capture an armed robber who had shot his wife and daughter, police said. NBC10’s Cydney Long has the latest on the suspect and gets reactions from the community as well as an employee.
A man was sentenced for shooting a woman and her mother during a robbery inside a Northeast Philadelphia pizza shop.
Kaleb Bridges, 20, of Philadelphia, was sentenced on Wednesday to 166 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
Bridges had pleaded guilty back on Dec. 6, 2023, to robbery and carrying, using and discharging a firearm.
On March 8, 2023, Bridges entered the Mayfair Pizza restaurant on the 7400 block of Frankford Avenue just before closing time. He then pulled out a gun and demanded that a 34-year-old employee empty the cash register and place the money into a bag. After the employee did so, Bridges pulled away before she could release the bag. He then opened fire, shooting the employee in the shoulder. She ducked below the counter before Bridges fired another shot, which struck a refrigerator.
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The employee’s father -- who owns the pizza shop -- witnessed the shooting. As Bridges started to leave with the bag of stolen money, the owner struggled with him to stop him from fleeing. During the struggle, Bridges’ gun fell to the floor. Bridges then retrieved it and fired again, striking the first shooting victim’s 65-year-old mother -- who is a co-owner of the business – in the stomach. Other employees and customers then helped hold Bridges down until police arrived.
Responding officers rushed the wounded employee and her mother to the hospital. The 34-year-old was treated and released after a few hours. Her mother spent weeks in the hospital recovering from her injuries.
“Kaleb Bridges’ decision to rob this family business at gunpoint and shoot two members of that family was life-changing for the victims,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said. “While this crime occurred in a matter of minutes, it will long stay with the two women he shot and the witnesses who struggled to restrain him. It’s also changed the course of Bridges’ life, which, for the next decade-plus, will be lived locked away in prison.”
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