Pizza man turns tables on thief

[fultonCoShooter]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...=2008803290329



An armed pizza deliveryman told Des Moines police that he shot a man who tried to rob him at gunpoint Thursday night outside a south-side apartment building.

When officers arrived at the Sutton Hill Apartments, 2100 S.E. King Ave., the pizza man, James William Spiers, 38, had both handguns, and the wounded robber had fled empty-handed.

The suspect, Kenneth Jimmerson, 19, was arrested when he later called for medical help. Jimmerson was hospitalized Friday with multiple gunshot wounds and faces a charge of first-degree robbery.



Melanie Stout, 18, who allegedly placed the pizza order, was arrested for conspiracy.

Spiers, who has a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon, escaped injury, although his bosses at Pizza Hut suspended him Friday until police sort out the details of the Thursday-night incident.

"We have policy against carrying weapons," said Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources at Pizza Hut's corporate offices in Dallas. "We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody."

Spiers, who drives for the Pizza Hut at 4100 S.E. 14th St., told police that when he arrived at the entrance of the building shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, a man put a pistol to his head and demanded cash. Spiers said he grabbed the gun, simultaneously pulling his own weapon and opening fire. When the robber ran away, Spiers called police.

Officers found Spiers in the parking lot shortly after 10:30 p.m. They said Spiers immediately raised his hands and knelt to the ground. A police report said Spiers told officers "that he had a gun in each of his front coat pockets."

Investigators said Jimmerson later called dispatchers from a second-floor apartment in another building and said he had been shot. He was taken to Mercy Medical Center in serious condition. Police said he was hit by at least three bullets, one of which struck him in the side. Police said Jimmerson will be taken to the Polk County Jail when he is released from the hospital.

Jimmerson's criminal record includes arrests for carrying a concealed weapon and criminal mischief in 2007, harassment in 2006, and assault in 2004.

Stout, who told jail officials her address is 2150 S.E. King Ave., was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. Her bond was set at $10,000. A representative for Hubbell Apartments, which manages the Sutton Hill complex, said neither Jimmerson nor Stout is listed as a tenant.

Dennis Howe, who has delivered for Domino's Pizza the past three years, said Thursday's incident was a twist on the all-too-typical story. Police do not keep statistics, but a review of newspaper articles from the past few years shows numerous similar holdups in Des Moines, a few that resulted in injury to the driver.

"I hate the thought of what happened, but pizza delivery people are easy targets," Howe said. "This was a bizarre turn of events."

Howe's co-worker Kimberly Babis said Spiers should not have been armed on the job, no matter what the safety concern. She said most drivers have the right to refuse a delivery if they feel it could pose danger.

"I don't understand why the pizza delivery guy had a gun," she said. "And even if the other guy was trying to rob him, it's a measly 20 bucks. At least that's how much our drivers have on them."






http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app.../80401008/1001

State senator: 'I'm going to be watching Pizza Hut'

JENNIFER JACOBS • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • April 1, 2008

A state senator said he would stop buying Pizza Hut products if the pizza chain fires a Des Moines delivery man who shot a teen who tried to rob him at gunpoint.

Sen. Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, said from what he’s read, he understands that James William Spiers is a single father raising a daughter, and had the legal right to carry a weapon.




"I think what he did was the right thing," Zaun told fellow senators today. "If was in a situation to protect my family, protect myself, to continue being a father, I would’ve done the same thing."

Zaun said it was appropriate for Pizza Hut to suspend Spiers while authorities sort out the case, but "I’m going to be watching Pizza Hut."

"What I want everybody to know ... is that there is people out there supporting this man and his right to defend himself," Zaun said.

[DemonOfTheFall]

"We have policy against carrying weapons," said Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources at Pizza Hut's corporate offices in Dallas. "We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody."

The safest for everybody??? So the pizza guy would have been safer if he had NOT had a weapon? This stupidity is making my brain hurt....

Howe's co-worker Kimberly Babis said Spiers should not have been armed on the job, no matter what the safety concern. She said most drivers have the right to refuse a delivery if they feel it could pose danger.

Right, and get fired the next day. Let's apply the logic to "he should have not been armed no matter what the safety concern"...Cops, Brinks guys, security details....un-f#cking-believable. Are people really just naive or plain stupid?

[JimmyJoeBob]

man thats crap!!! so what pizza huts rules over a LTCF????

that thief got what he deserved!

[CarolinaGuy]

I delivered pizza for a few years in the late 80's, including for Pizza Hut. I was robbed at gunpoint on my last run of a Friday night. They stole 2 pizzas, a 6pack of coke, the pizza bags, about 100$ in MY tips, plus about 20$ from my previous run.

I knew something wasn't right when the lights were off at the town home. If I had a weapon, that's about when I would've drawn it. 2 younger dudes came from behind the bushes of the opposing townhouse, and basically threw me down and relieved me of my items.

When I got back to the store, shaking, and told my manager, he insinuated that I made the whole thing up. They called the cops, and I think they could see I wasn't faking it. But it was about all I could do to prevent myself from beating the shit out of that manager when he said that, cops or not. A friend that still worked there said that manager drug my name through the dirt for months over that.

Of course I walked out on that POS job that night. Fuck pizza hut, their pizza sucks (want me to tell you about their pan pizza?), and their policy sucks. I risked my life to deliver their shitty product, only to basically be called a thief.

However, in my years delivering, I know a 60 year old woman assaulted with a baseball bat, a guy shot in the leg with a .22, a guy killed by his own car during an attempted carjacking at a delivery, and a guy that got a knife pulled on him. Not to mention the people that had their delivery snatched.

Anyone who says you are safer without a weapon hasn't delivered a pizza, I'll tell you that. It's all about saving money on insurance. Because money comes before human life at Pizza Hut. PH goes out of their way to advertise their "no handgun" policy, making all their drivers sitting ducks.

Fuck 'em. Any gun owner that eats at Pizza Hut may as well vote for Hillary.

[KeithPA]

"I don't understand why the pizza delivery guy had a gun," she said. "And even if the other guy was trying to rob him, it's a measly 20 bucks. At least that's how much our drivers have on them."

Definitely naive. I guess giving up your money guarantees you won't be shot?

[4XLT]

whats that ?!??! a criminal with a record of concealing firearms? , and he stil had a gun? how does a criminal get a gun? isnt that illegal ?? LMAO

im glad that guy got his shots off and good job in that situation for getting 3 shots into the BG