News

Timed safe foils Pizza Hut robbery

May 11, 2004

PORTERVILLE, Calif.—A gunman who attempted to rob a Pizza Hut here on May 11, wound up fleeing the scene when the store's timed safe wouldn't open.

According to The Porterville Recorder, the attempted robbery took place at about 1:30 a.m., when two employees were cleaning the restaurant. As one employee walked outside, the gunman pointed a shotgun at him and told him to re-enter the restaurant.

Once inside, the gunman ordered employees to open the safe, but they were unable to comply because the safe was time-locked. Frustrated, the suspect reportedly fled on foot.

In a similar incident, a thief armed with a shotgun robbed a Domino's Pizza store some seven blocks away from the Pizza Hut on May 4. Police said the man entered through an unlocked front door, ordered the three employees to the floor and took an undetermined amount of cash.