A pizza shop owner in New Jersey is looking for a new delivery driver after two of his were robbed at gunpoint at the same apartment complex, causing one of them to quit. Gloucester Township police said they are investigating these and similar incidents involving delivery drivers in the same area. NBC10’s Brian Sheehan spoke with the owner of the pizza shop.
Two pizza delivery drivers were robbed at gunpoint in Blackwood, New Jersey on two separate occasions within the past three weeks.
The owner of Antonino’s Pizza said in both cases the robbers were likely teenagers and were more interested in the food than cash. The delivery drivers do not carry large amounts of cash on them, if at all.
“Juveniles, placing orders for mainly cheesesteaks, actually. They ordered like, four cheesesteaks, from a burner phone. My driver gets there. They meet him in the parking lot, stick a gun to his side and basically all they do is take his food,” Kevin Flaxman, the pizza shop owner said.
Flaxman is now looking for a new delivery driver since one of his guys quit recently after getting robbed while on the job. It happened in September at the Autumn Ridge Apartment Complex in Blackwood.
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A similar incident happened on Sunday, October 6, to another one of Flaxman’s drivers at the same complex.
This time the young robbers made away with two cheesesteaks, a couple of large pizzas, some wings and $5.
In both instances, the callers gave addresses for a building in the apartment complex and then ambushed the drivers in the parking lot.
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Gloucester Township police said they are investigating these two incidents and several other robberies involving delivery drivers.
“I know these guys are going to get caught. Sooner or later they’re going to slip up,” Flaxman said.
His team is now taking extra precautions and have implemented additional security steps before drivers hit the road.
“We call back all the numbers, make sure somebody answers. If we feel suspicious about an order the police have actually accompanied our drivers on deliveries a couple times,” he said.
Flaxman said drivers should feel safe.
“I worry all the time. I don’t want anybody to get hurt…I worry for my drivers,” he said.
Further, Flaxman said parents need to know what their kids are doing.
“See who your kids are hanging out with, check their bookbags, check their stuff. Fake guns, real guns, if you have teenage kids there’s no reason for them to have either of them,” he said.
If you have any information about the individuals involved in these incidents, contact the Gloucester Township Police Department.
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