Destrehan pizza place changes ordering policy for new customers
Domino’s Pizza in Destrehan will no longer deliver food to Carriage Lane after an assistant manager at the store was robbed at gunpoint last month.
After fielding a delivery call, the man headed out to Carriage Lane and was approached by two black males, who pointed guns at the man, demanded his money and pushed him to the ground.
The men then fled with the assistant manager’s wallet, cell phone and silver chain.
Warren Wesley, 24, of 76 Carriage Lane, Apt. 2, and Andrew Vidal, 20, of 82 Carriage Lane, Apt. C, were arrested for the crime. St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said that investigators received information linking both to the robbery.
A search warrant of the men’s residences then resulted in the recovery of stolen property from the robbery.
“Because of that incident, we will no longer be delivering to Carriage Lane,” Domino’s Shift Manager Josie, who declined to give her last name, said. “We will also have to verify all cell phone calls before making a delivery.”
Josie said that if a person calls Domino’s to place an order, but has never had food delivered to their residence before, they will have to come in and register all their information.
In this case, Josie said she believes the assistant manager was set up. He was given an actual address on Carriage Lane, but was stopped by the gunmen before he arrived. It appears the men had used a cell phone to order the food.
The robbery shocked employees at the close-knit Destrehan Domino’s.
“We were all very upset because, even though we are employees, we are more like a family at this particular Domino’s,” Josie said. “Thank God he’s safe and wasn’t hurt.”
Though the employees were shaken up by the incident, they have gone about their business since then.
“They all got back out there and began making deliveries,” Josie said. “At Domino’s, our delivery drivers are told that if they get to an area where they don’t feel comfortable, they need to come back and return to the store.”
Champagne said that taking extra precautions is always a good idea.
“It is certainly Domino’s decision as to whether they feel they can safely deliver to this area. This is the first robbery of a delivery person on Carriage Lane although it has happened elsewhere – thankfully not that often,” Champagne said. “Any delivery type service such as this needs to be cautious and try to verify the validity of the call first.
“In this case, several apartments in the area were vacant and the perps used a vacant address probably thinking there would be few witnesses to the offense.”
While the two gunmen did make off with some personal items, delivery companies don’t usually allow their drivers to carry much money, which was the case in this instance.
“Our delivery drivers never carry more than $20,” Josie said. “In this case, the assistant manager only had $3, which was just enough money to make change for the pizza.”
Wesley has been charged with armed robbery, use of a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and illegal possession of a stolen firearm. Vidal was charged with armed robbery with a gun. Both men have bonds of $150,000.
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