Man who robbed pizza delivery drivers faces prison
NORRISTOWN » A Philadelphia man who came to Montgomery County to rob pizza delivery drivers because he believed the “drivers would have more money” is headed to prison for armed holdups in Plymouth and West Norriton townships.
Isaiah Eric Whichard, 22, of the 2400 block of North 18th Street, was sentenced in county court to four to eight years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with two incidents that occurred in Plymouth and West Norriton on Jan. 9, 2017.
Judge Gail A. Weilheimer imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement. The judge ordered Whichard to have no contact with the victims of the robberies.
The investigation began about 6:30 p.m. Jan. 9, when Plymouth police responded to the 600 block of Lancelot Road for a report of the armed robbery of a Domino’s Pizza driver. The driver told police that when he arrived at a delivery location on Lancelot Road a man was waiting for him and pointed a black, revolver-style firearm at him and demanded his money and cellphone, according to the criminal complaint.
The robber, later identified to be Whichard, made off with the money and cellphone resulting in a loss of $615, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Plymouth Detectives Jeffrey McGee Sr. and Joseph LaPenta III.
At 9:10 p.m. West Norriton police responded to a similar holdup in the 1800 block of Sterigere Street when a driver for Kosmo’s Pizza in Jeffersonville reported being robbed at gunpoint while making a pizza delivery to a residence that appeared unoccupied. The robber was waiting on the porch of the residence, displayed a handgun and stated, “Give me the money,” according to the criminal complaint.
The driver, according to police, initially grabbed the gun but then let go and took cash out of his pocket and gave it to the robber. An unidentified conspirator of Whichard entered the driver’s vehicle and took the ignition key and a cellphone, according to the criminal complaint.
Whichard, the gunman, then ran to a waiting vehicle and entered the passenger’s side. The vehicle then fled from the area, traveling east on Sterigere Street toward Whitehall Road, police said.
The second driver’s cellphone and cash were never recovered, resulting in a loss of $750, court papers indicate.
Whichard eventually was identified as a suspect and on Feb. 17, 2017, he was interviewed by detectives. During the interview, Whichard admitted to being the robber.
“Whichard stated that he and an accomplice, who was not identified, drove to Montgomery County for the purpose of robbing pizza delivery drivers,” detectives McGee and LaPenta wrote in the arrest affidavit.
“Whichard stated that he committed too many robberies in his neighborhood that the drivers would only carry exact change. Whichard said that he and his accomplice agreed to do the robberies in Montgomery County believing the delivery drivers would have more money,” McGee and LaPenta added.
Whichard, according to court documents, would not disclose the type of vehicle that his accomplice used during the getaway but he said that he split the proceeds of the two robberies with his unidentified accomplice.
With the robbery charges, prosecutors alleged Whichard, during the course of committing thefts, intentionally put another person in fear of immediate serious bodily injury.