Posted on 06/02/2004 2:44:47 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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."
very irritating that this guy should be fired. He did the right thing. I would say that I will boycott Pizaa Hut from now on, but their pizza is terrible anyway and I never eat it! I only like the "ma & pa" style pizza of New York City! He should get his job back and I think the NRA should help him file suit against Pizza Hut if at all possible (I don't know how well the law would work since I presume company policy is clearly stated somewhere).
Although I do find it rather an indictment on American society that a delivery driver feels it neccessary to arm himself with a gun...
Both my brother and an ex-boyfriend of mine used to deliver for Pizza Hut in Brisbane, Australia and never needed a gun to do so (and before anyone points out the Australian gun laws, I might add this was prior to 1995 when those laws took effect!)
Carolyn
Brisbane, Australia did have a pretty low crime rate compared to many American inner cities.
I agree.
I only like the "ma & pa" style pizza of New York City!
When I lived in Salinas, Ca, there was one locally-owned pizza place which made a truly different kind of pizza. The cheese was on top of the ingredients, and the ingredients were spicy.
I don't know how that compares to New York style, but after one of those I never wanted any other pizza. You could literally taste this stuff the next day. One does need to be a bit careful about burping tho.
They also had a meatball sandwich which just about required a shower after eating.
This Pizza Hut type fare isn't worth eating. They did the guy a favor by firing him.
...and it still does.
This doesn't say much for 9mm's.
If Pizza Hut employees are involved in shootouts, the company will get sued out of existence by the soulless lawyers.
Greek pizza is best!
You should have heard the lament from the hyphenated boy's mama in the Indianapolis Star, complaining that the shooter should have been charged with SOMETHING for ventilating her son so well.
"Other criminals better think twice, because I'm going back out there, and I know I'm not alone in the way I think about this."
Brown-Dancler's mother was stunned. Esther Birden Jones said she doesn't understand how Honeycutt could shoot her son 15 times and escape punishment.
"Mr. Honeycutt didn't even call police to say he shot a man," Jones said. "How many lies does he have to tell, and now they justify his lies. You don't have to put 15 rounds in a man to stop him."
Surely she would have been satisfied if he had shot her son only once through the heart.
Bingo. No question Pizza Hut's rule in this regard is prompted by liability concerns. In addition, I wouldn't be surprised if the rule is also required by Pizza Hut's Insurance carrier.
I might suggest Mr. Honeycutt move up to a 45 caliber weapon,it won't take 10 shots to drop the next guy.
Pizza Hut is dead wrong, every citizen has the right to defend themselves.
Next time use a coupon, buddy!
Oops... should rephrase: Next time your buddy should use a coupon.
And to think that Australia was founded by a bunch of deported convicts!
They didn’t do to bad for themselves.
While my sympathy goes out to Mrs. Jones for losing her son, she does not know (or is ignoring) the fact that the driver went to a safe location to call police. For all the driver knew, the robber had an armed buddy nearby.
Bottom line: robber paid the consequences of his poor decisions.
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