Pizza delivery man may have saved his own life -- with a gun

Originally published as:
Kidnapped delivery man pulls gun on two captors

By KEVIN BLANCHARD
Acadiana bureau

Originally published February 2, 2001 at http://www.TheAdvocate.com

OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA -- A kidnapped pizza delivery man had an unnerving surprise for his captors Wednesday, an Opelousas Police spokesman said.

The Domino’s delivery man was taking a pizza to a house on Planters Street early Wednesday, Maj. Ronnie Trahan said.

The house looked empty. A man walked up to the delivery man, who asked if anyone lived there, Trahan said.

The man offered to knock on the door and ask. The delivery man began walking back to the car when the stranger pulled a gun and placed it against the delivery man’s head, Trahan said.

The gunman asked for money and the delivery man’s car keys. Just then, a second robber appeared and hit the delivery man in the head with what may have been a baseball bat, Trahan said.

The robbers shoved the stunned and dazed delivery man into the back seat of his own car and drove to an industrial area, Trahan said.

The delivery man remembered he had a gun in the car, Trahan said.

He got the gun in hand, put it to the head of one of his captors and pulled the trigger. The gun didn’t fire, Trahan said.

But the click got the attention of the kidnappers, who stopped the car and ran, Trahan said.

The pizza delivery man ran into a nearby wooded area.

Once in the woods, he made the gun operational. He heard noises and squeezed off two shots in the direction of the kidnappers.

Finally, he heard his car drive away, Trahan said.

The delivery man forced his way into a business in the industrial park, but couldn’t find a phone. He finally made it to a nearby house to call police.

The robbers set his car on fire on North Railroad Avenue, Trahan said.

Police tracked the phone call that sent the man on the delivery. The call had been placed from a house on Herman Street, Trahan said.

Someone at the house told police that 18-year-old Quinton Richard, of 738 Kim Drive, and a 16-year-old boy had stopped by the house between 11 and 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

They watched TV for awhile, made a phone call, then left, police learned.

Police caught up with the two and booked them both with aggravated battery, armed robbery, simple arson, carjacking and second-degree kidnapping, Trahan said.

Richard was out on bond awaiting sentencing for armed robbery of an Opelousas bank, Trahan said.

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