Posted on 06/01/2004 4:52:33 AM PDT by joesnuffy
This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38726
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
WEAPONS OF CHOICE Pizza man saved by gun, but fired for packin' heat Prosecutors call it 'clear case of self-defense,' yet national chain prohibits carrying firearms
Posted: June 1, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A pizza deliveryman won't face charges for fatally shooting a would-be robber several times when he was approached in a high-crime area, but his employer, Pizza Hut, has fired him for violating a company policy against carrying firearms.
Ronald B. Honeycutt, 38, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, says he's been delivering pizzas for 20 years and has always packed heat on the job.
According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, prosecutors announced Friday the Carmel, Ind., man will not face criminal charges.
"It's a clear case of self-defense," Deputy Prosecutor Barb Crawford said. "He did what the law allows him to do to protect himself."
Jerome Brown-Dancler approached Honeycutt at around 11 p.m. on May 17 just after he had made a pizza delivery in Indianapolis. According to the report, Brown-Dancler pointed a 9 mm handgun at the Pizza Hut employee as he was entering his van.
Brown-Dancler's gun carried a loaded 14-round clip but had no bullet in the chamber, Crawford told the Star. When confronted, Honeycutt pulled his own 9 mm from the back of his pants and fired until it was empty. He says he fired 15 times in about eight seconds. An autopsy revealed Brown-Dancler was hit at least 10 times.
According to the report, Honeycutt insists Brown-Dancler didn't fall until after the last shot was fired.
"The guy kept standing. He knew he was injured when he fell," Honeycutt told the paper. "His concern was he made an error, and the only thing he could say when I was grabbing his gun off the ground was, 'I just wanted pizza.'"
After the encounter, Honeycutt took Brown-Dancler's gun, fearing it might be stolen if it was left with the body. He got in his van, drove to the Pizza Hut restaurant where he worked and told his manager to call police, Crawford said.
"This was late at night. This was a high-crime area," Crawford is quoted as saying. "He left because he wasn't sure whether or not Brown-Dancler had any friends with him. As it turns out, he did indeed have friends with him. They left when they heard shots fired."
Honeycutt says he plans to find another job delivering pizzas.
"Other criminals better think twice, because I'm going back out there," he said, "and I know I'm not alone in the way I think about this."
Some Pizza Hut customers have complained to the company after it fired Honeycutt.
"I hope those of you in the media will realize the incredible unfairness of a huge company telling its employees in essence they must agree to die for the company rather than use legal reasonable means to defend themselves," Rick Whitham, an Indianapolis attorney, told WND. He says he saw Pizza Hut's action as "clear discrimination against those who choose to lawfully exercise a legal, heavily regulated right."
Whitham wrote to the company: "I don't spend my money with businesses that openly discriminate against people such as myself who understand that the police have no affirmative duty to protect any particular citizen and that no company is worth dying for particularly yours."
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It saved his life, but he got fired. That's a pretty good trade.
If I were him, I'd be thinking "I don't need this stinking job." I'm sure someone will hire him to do something. Chances are it will be better than a pizza delivery job.
I delivered pizza for a while. A white guy in a new Audi driving into bad neighborhoods turns heads. After the second time someone approached me in a hostile manner I quit. I wanted some extra cash but not to have to kill someone over it. My manager knew I was carrying a handgun but was so short of help that he turned a blind eye. The other employees gave me a bunch of crap like "I've delivered there for years and not been bothered so you don't need a gun" and "if you carry a gun you'll get shot" until one of the girls was beaten and robbed.
You can put Papa Johns on the list of companies that expect their sheep to go unarmed.
You can make a lot in tips delivering pizza. Better money can't be found in part time work.
If they expect you to be unarmed, then they should expect to pay you more for combat pay. Why would you work under those conditions, unless they paid you more?
One-man-pizza-delivering-wrecking-crew! What does he do in the case of a paltry tip?
This is one case where I do hope this fine gentleman sues the pants of Pizza Hut!
The more I read about this guy, the lower my estimation of his IQ.
No need for me to plan a boycott, their pizza sucks anyway so I don't do business with them.
Unless Domino's has changed their policy, they won't hire him. When I worked in the regional office, it was corporate policy to fire any employee that used force of any kind to defended themselves.
Ah, Mr. Editor, I can see where you can fatally shoot a cat several times, but you can only fatally shoot a man once. Although you can kill a man by shooting him several times.
Brown-Dancler's gun carried a loaded 14-round clip but had no bullet in the chamber he didn't know how to use it, Crawford told the Star. When confronted, Honeycutt pulled his own 9 mm from the back of his pants and fired until it was emptyHe says he fired 15 times in about eight seconds. An autopsy revealed Brown-Dancler was hit at least 10 times knew how to use his, and knew he wasn't in a movie or a TV show.
"The guy kept standing. He knew he was injured when he fell," Honeycutt told the paper. "His concern was he made an error, and the only thing he could say when I was grabbing his gun off the ground was, 'I just wanted pizza.' and figured that waving my gun at someone was a good way to get it"
"This was late at night. This was a high-crime area," Crawford is quoted as saying. "He left because he wasn't sure whether or not Brown-Dancler had any friends with him. As it turns out, he did indeed have friends with him. They pissed their pants and ran like scared cats left when they heard shots fired found out that this guy wasn't interested in being a victim."
...
"The guy kept standing. He knew he was injured when he fell," Honeycutt told the paper. "His concern was he made an error, and the only thing he could say when I was grabbing his gun off the ground was, 'I just wanted pizza.'"
If all true, it's interesting that the mindset here is, "It's O.K. for me to threaten someone with lethal force to get anything I want, and it's a surprise when someone responds with lethal force."
That was part of my rationale for going to Iraq unarmed; They turned on the money faucet. What's my life worth to me? 70+ hours a week at time and a half plus food, lodging, medical and body armor.
Besides, if I had needed a weapon there would have been one laying around.
One of the reasons I chose to drive for Papa Johns is that I thought they had a superior product. Now that I live in an area where Papa Johns is staffed by less careful and attentive employees I now order from a local chain called "Papa Joes".
Thanks for the improved version. If newspaper stories were written this way, there wouldn't be so much stupidity. They might also actually sell more papers, too.
I have seen people here taken to task for using the term "clip" instead of "magazine." What exactly is the issue with the former term?
Better, but you forgot to change "clip" to "magazine."
These are magazines.
Technically, a "clip" is an en-bloc clip, like that used with the M1 Garand - simply a metal device that retains the ammo in a desired configuration for loading, generally considered disposable.
A magazine, or box magazine, is an integral part of the firearm, can be reused, and completely encloses the ammunition.
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