Posted on 09/29/2010 4:58:01 AM PDT by marktwain
A pizza deliveryman who shot two would-be robbers to death in east Charlotte said Tuesday that he didn’t draw his concealed pistol until the last possible second, when he thought he would be killed.
Throughout the robbery attempt, as the men hit and pistol-whipped him inside a cooler at an east Charlotte Pizza Hut, the driver said he kept his right elbow pinned tightly against his body – holding a Glock 22 under his shirt and out of view.
He said he didn’t want to use the gun unless he was forced to. But as one of the men lifted his shirt, nearly exposing the gun, the deliveryman opened fire.
The two men killed – Gregory James Hardy and Dauntrae Wallace – were both 21-year-old convicted felons, one on probation and one awaiting trial on unrelated charges.
Police were searching Tuesday night for a third suspect who fled the attempted robbery and was possibly wounded.
No charges have been filed against the deliveryman.
He asked that his name not be used out of fear for his and his family’s safety. Officials confirmed that the 57-year-old had worked as a jail detention officer and a sheriff’s deputy for about six years, leaving in 2004.
The robbery was reported about 11:15 p.m. Monday at the restaurant at East Independence Boulevard and Idlewild Road.
Just after closing, the deliveryman said the store manager asked if he wanted a soda from the McDonald’s across the street. The deliveryman said no, and continued cleaning while the manager left.
A moment later, three men walked in, at least two pointing guns. The first one told the deliveryman: “I mean business.”
They told him to open the safe. The deliveryman said he didn’t have access.
“‘Get down!’” one ordered. When the deliveryman didn’t, he says the man pistol-whipped him. The men then ordered him into a bathroom while they waited for the manager.
One of the robbers waited in the bathroom with the deliveryman. He ordered him to wrap his arms around the toilet, kneeling, and then demanded money.
“Every time I hesitated, he hit me. I have so many bumps,” the driver said. He turned over his $42 in tips for the night and a gold chain with a Jesus medallion he’s worn for almost 40 years.
The whole time, the driver tried to keep his gun pressed against his body, under his baggy shirt. The driver has a concealed carry permit, and started carrying the gun after being robbed twice in the past two years.
When the manager returned moments later, the suspects grabbed him. One told the deliveryman to crawl to the cooler in the back.
“I said I can’t crawl,” said the deliveryman, realizing that if he bent over any further his gun would stick out. “As soon as I stood up, he hit me. I took a big step and ended up in the cooler.”
Then, the suspect demanded car keys and hit the deliveryman again, opening a nearly two-inch gash next to his left eye.
When the suspect started to lift the deliveryman’s shirt, he realized the robber was about to see his gun.
“I thought, ‘He’s gonna kill us,’” the deliveryman said. “They’re gonna get what they want, and still kill me.
“I pulled my gun. I shot him three times, and he fell.”
The second suspect started to rush into the cooler, and the deliveryman shot him too. The third suspect ran away.
When police and paramedics arrived, they found two suspects on the floor, both dead, with guns nearby. One investigator said it’s possible the third suspect was wounded by the employee.
“We found some other evidence in the area of the business and are looking into that,” CMPD Sgt. Gerard Farley said. Police did not have a detailed description of the man.
Both of the men killed have criminal pasts, court records show. Wallace was convicted of breaking and entering and larceny in 2006. He was fined and given three years probation. In May, he was convicted of carrying a concealed gun and given another year of probation.
Court records show Hardy was convicted of car theft in 2006 and given three years probation. He was sent to prison for six months in 2007 when he violated his probation by trespassing.
Last year, he was arrested and charged with possessing and conspiring to sell marijuana, and was scheduled to be tried in November.
Their families couldn’t be reached Tuesday night.
The Pizza Hut attempted robbery was the second closing time fast-food hold-up in less than 24 hours. Early Monday, the Wendy’s on Charlottetowne Avenue near uptown was robbed by three men as it closed. A customer was pistol-whipped. Three men were arrested a short while later and charged with armed robbery.
Pizza Hut employees have been fired for using guns in self-defense. Chris Fuller, a spokesman for Pizza Hut’s national corporate office, said that “in the interest of our employees’ safety, we don’t discuss our safety policies publicly.”
However, there have been several reports in recent years in which Pizza Hut officials said corporate policy forbids employees from having weapons while on the job.
A Pizza Hut employee in Columbia resigned last year after police said he shot and killed a robbery suspect. The employee resigned, according to Pizza Hut’s Fuller, because of the company’s policy forbidding employees from carrying firearms.
In one well-publicized May 2004 case, a Pizza Hut employee in Carmel, Ind., was fired after he shot and killed a would-be robber. And in 2008, a Pizza Hut worker in Des Moines, Iowa, lost his job after shooting and wounding a robbery suspect. Both of those Pizza Hut employees were delivery drivers.
Though the deliveryman said he knew he’d be risking his job by drawing his gun, he was tired of being robbed. He does landscaping during the delay and delivers pizzas at night.
“It’s hard-earned money, and they think they can just take it?” he said Tuesday.
After killing the would-be robbers, the deliveryman went to Carolinas Medical Center for stitches and talked with investigators. Tuesday morning, he came home, talked briefly with reporters, and went to sleep until Tuesday evening.
Asked how he was feeling Tuesday night, he shook his head: “I don’t know. I don’t know.” Observer researcher Maria David and staff writer Cleve R. Wootson, Jr. contributed.
Wallace was convicted of breaking and entering and larceny in 2006. He was fined and given three years probation. In May, he was convicted of carrying a concealed gun and given another year of probation.
The criminal ‘justice’ system has this man’s blood on their hands. Had he been in jail for the above crimes, he would be alive today...
He sure did. It’s tough to put myself in the same position, but I bet I’d have drawn the moment I felt my life in danger, not minutes down the line with beating after beating.
Which is, of course, why us Pennsylvanianers need to put pressure on our reps to pass HR 40 (Stand your Ground), which only last night was guaranteed a vote next week!
Hats off to the deliveryman for shooting these thugs. I am relieved that he did in fact have a concealed carry permit. The first reports were sketchy at best, but this actually gives his age and background.
Too bad the newspaper cannot proofread any better, there are a couple of silly errors in the story.
Glock 22...40 cal. No substitute for firepower when the chips are down.
Give him a medal, job well done.
And, most likely, he would have exited jail a bigger, stronger, more determined criminal than when he went in. People like this, willing to rob, assault and kill with little or no concern for their own fate, cannot be rehabilitated. This episode is a great example of why an armed society is a polite society. The problem is there aren't enough people with CC permits to make thugs like these two consider their own mortality when they decide to pull something like this. This delivery driver is a hero in my book.
Good reason to never go to Pizza Hut. I just may send them a nice friendly email today and tell them I won’t be buying their pizza ever again because of their no-guns policy for employees.
Job well done indeed, and now he will need a new job. Pizza Hut will fire him for having the gun that saved two lives.
I haven’t bought a pie from the Hut in years because of it, and will not until the publicly change the policy.
Job well done indeed, and now he will need a new job. Pizza Hut will fire him for having the gun that saved two lives.
I haven’t bought a pie from the Hut in years because of it, and will not until they publicly change the policy.
Sorry about the double. Minor spell error, thought I caught it.
Any employee fired for violating a companies policy prohibiting self defense should seek a class action law suit against the company. While I normally detest most “class action” suits, there is and has been an organized campaign by anti gun groups to convince businesses that they need to disarm all their employees. If you prevent me from protecting myself on your premises, then you become 100% liable to provide protection, and any failure should be actionable.
In the same boat here and will start a campaign in my local area to tell as many people as I can. Does anybody have an actual written policy statement to this effect with a Pizza Hut logo and executive signature on it?
Somehow for the sake of the rest of society, I think his not being alive today is the best outcome. Some people just plain need killin'.
I feel the exact same way about gubmint. States and/or cities that don't allow CC or make it prohibitively difficult to obtain should be held 100% accountable to provide protection 100% of the time. If they fail and someone gets hurt or killed because they were denied the right to self defense the state or city should be held 100% liable for all loss incurred.
I've always wondered as to why the government wants us to be victims. I have two theories:
My prayers for he and his family as they go through a horrible time, but by every fact this was a totally justified shoot and may have saved the lives of him and his manager.
I find it interesting that the manager went across the street to get a drink after closing. Doesn’t Pizza Hut serve beverages? I smell an accomplice.
Yep. The recidivism rate is pretty high for violent criminals. Jail time doesn't seem to matter to them. When they do wind up in jail they usually come out bigger, stronger and more determined criminals than when they went in. The way to curb a lot of this seems to be two fold. One would be to return to prison farms where the inmates labor 12 hours a day, six days a week. No TV, no bulking up, no time to plan and organize new crimes with other criminals. The other would be for more of society to be armed. The only person a criminal is worried about is themselves. You make punishment so harsh they will walk the straight and narrow. If not, they know full well that they are taking their very lives into their own hands. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
That thought crossed my mind, too.
I vote for both.
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