'I made a stupid mistake': Pizza thief fails to cover up robbery very well

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- A suspected pizza robber is now behind bars -- a hefty price to pay to dodge an $80 pizza order.

A Pizza Hut delivery woman called Pierce County Sheriff's deputies Friday evening reporting she had just been robbed at gunpoint. She told deputies she received an order from a phone number with a 980 area code for an apartment in the 7300 block of Chambers Creek Rd. W. in University Place.

When she arrived, she couldn't find the customer so she called the number back, at which point he told her to meet him in front of one of the apartment buildings a few blocks away, deputies said.

As she drove to that building and got out of her car, she was approached by two men -- one of which held a gun to her leg and demanded the food. The men then took the food and walked away while the woman drove away and called 911.

Detectives asked the Pizza Hut restaurant to check the 980 phone number to see if any previous orders had been placed under that account, and sure enough, an order had been placed four days earlier with that phone number, but under a different name and to an address at the same apartment where the robbery occurred.

Deputies went to that unit and as they knocked on the door, deputies could hear loud music and several voices inside, in addition to the smell of marijuana. As the deputies knocked on the door and announced they were police, someone inside said "don't answer" and after several minutes of no answer, it became quiet and the music was turned off, investigators said.

One of the deputies went toward the back of the unit and saw several men inside putting their shoes on and stepping out into a third floor balcony. The deputy ordered them to stop -- and they eventually allowed the deputies inside.

Once there, they found five men and two women, in addition to several Pizza Hut boxes containing half-eaten food that matched the order taken during the robbery. All seven were detained and identified, but a 20-year-old man in particular was identified as the one who placed the order four days earlier. Deputies also found a loaded gun under the couch where the man was sitting, investigators said.

Their suspect told the deputies "man, I made a stupid mistake", admitted he ordered the pizza and that he and another man had "robbed the pizza girl." He added the gun was the one used in the robbery and he had recently stolen it while at a party.

The suspect went on to say that he had "messed up his life over eight bucks in pizza" but deputies were quick to point out the stolen food amounted to $81.24.

As the suspect was interviewed, another deputy called the 980 phone number that ordered the pizza and a cell phone near where the suspect had been sitting began to ring, investigators said. The suspect was arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of robbery and assault.

The others in the unit were interviewed but all denied involvement in the robbery and said the food was already there at the apartment when they arrived.