‘Stupid mistake' foils pizza robbery

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Not all Millennials are Einsteins when it comes to technology.

A 20-year-old University Place man used his cellphone to place an order for pizza Friday night, gave a false name and then robbed the delivery person after pressing a gun to her leg.

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As the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said in a Facebook post Monday, that’s not the smartest move if you’ve used the same phone to order pizza from the same company four days earlier. And used your real name.

In addition, the alleged robber committed the crime in the parking lot of his own apartment complex.

And the gun was stolen.

The alleged robber barely got a bite in before deputies tracked him down inside the apartment from the previous order in the 7300 block of Chambers Creek Road W. in University Place.

“As they knocked on the door, deputies could hear loud music and several voices inside, and could smell an odor of marijuana,” the Sheriff’s Department said. “As they loudly knocked and announced ‘police’ they heard a voice inside say ‘don't answer.’ After several minutes of no answer it became very quiet and the music was turned off.”

After some of the five men and two women inside tried to escape out a back balcony they eventually gave up and allowed the deputies to enter.

The officers called the number the alleged robber used to make the order.

“A cell phone located where the suspect had been found sitting began to ring,” the Sheriff’s Department said. “Deputies observed a loaded Glock .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun under the couch cushion where the man was seated.”

The suspect was booked into the Pierce County Jail for robbery in the first degree and assault in the first degree.

The suspect told deputies, “Man I made a stupid mistake.” He also said that he had messed up his life over “eight bucks in pizza.” The actual value of the food was $81.24.

No one else in the apartment was arrested, the Sheriff’s Department said. Presumably they had to look elsewhere for dinner. Pizza, cookies and bread were confiscated as evidence.

Cox Media Group