Pizza delivery worker chased by man with gun

Brooke was five steps from her car when she began to run.

A job she had done for a about a year had turned into a sudden race for her safety as a man wearing a bandanna over his nose and mouth began approaching her in the middle of the night.

“I was able to get in and lock the door,” Brooke said. “Then I just screamed as loud as I could.”

The man banged on the driver side of her car with a revolver and told her to get out, but he ran off after a few seconds. Brooke told police that she felt like this was an attempted robbery.

“It’s crazy to think about something happening like this when you’re just trying to deliver a pizza,” Brooke said.

Brooke’s harrowing experience began when she pulled into the Regency Apartments, 317 E. Eighth St., at about 1 a. m. Sunday.

Capt. Terry Autry with the Rome Police Department said the incident was the first case of a pizza delivery driver being attacked that they had seen in a while.

Maj. Mark Wallace with the Floyd County Police Department said he could not think of any reports of it happening in recent history.

Both agreed, however, that it is a dangerous job.

“Times are changing, and there are more and more reports of it happening across the country,” Wallace said.

“From a robbery standpoint, it’s just not worth it.”

Brooke, whose last name has been withheld at her request, said drivers who work at her restaurant never have more than $20 on them, and most transactions are done by credit card.

“We’re told to be observant and carry a flashlight,” Brooke said.

“Other than that, I think it would be good if we could talk to customers and make sure they meet us at an outside door and ask them to watch and make sure we get to our car after each delivery.”

According to the report filed with the Rome Police Department, a gold fourdoor sedan occupied by four men was blocking the entrance to the apartments when Brooke arrived.

The vehicle moved out of the way to let her in and then followed her into the complex, but parked on the other side of the parking lot.

After delivering her order, she noticed the man in the bandanna.

Brooke said she is fine now. She hopes to talk to her fellow drivers about extra safety precautions and wants the public to not take delivery workers for granted.

“If you get a pizza delivered, please remember to tip the driver,” Brooke said. “It’s a reward for us and makes it feel worth it.”