By Brian Freedman
Staff writer
Tim Norman has advice for anyone planning a robbery:
“If you’re going to rob someone, a delivery driver is the best person,” said the Ratsie’s Terrapin Eatery deliveryman.
Deliverymen are tempting targets, he says, because they carry around hundreds of dollars in cash and are easily recognizable.
Robberies on the campus hit a record high with three separate incidents over the weekend, bringing the 2005 total to 17 and eclipsing the previous high of 15 in 1996, according to university crime data.
Deliverymen have been victims of both on- and off-campus robberies.
Norman, 22, used to deliver food for Domino’s Pizza in College Park four years ago as a university student. He sported the full uniform: navy blue pants, a bright blue, white and red T-shirt and a Domino’s hat. Not to mention he carried pizza boxes.
After delivering food for Dominos to a dorm near McKeldin Library, he was accosted by a man as he returned to his car. Norman quickly dumped $15 from his wallet onto the ground. The robber took the money and ran.
“It’s risky business to be delivering food to begin with because you got cash and you’re in an open area,” University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said.
But crime against deliverymen is not just a local issue.
Drivers, sales workers and truck drivers are considered to have the ninth most dangerous job according to a Sept. 23, 2005, article from CNN.
Jimmy John’s, which opened in College Park in June 2004, changed its closing time from 3 a.m. to 11 p.m within six months of opening because of safety concerns about its employees.
It wasn’t worth it to put their deliverymen in danger, said Joseph K. Zammar, 29, Jimmy John’s manager. The deliverymen, who deliver food on bicycles, often carry more than $200 in cash, he added.
Deliveryman robberies began in January when a suspect forced a Papa John’s deliveryman to the floor at gunpoint in the Papa John’s restaurant and stole about $320. In March, two suspects ordered food from Danny’s Sub Shop and then stole more than $400 from the deliveryman. Most recently, on Nov. 30, a man robbed a Shanghai Cafe deliveryman near Berwyn House Road.
Although only three robberies of deliverymen were reported this year, Norman, who owns theft insurance for his self-described shoddy delivery vehicle, said all the deliverymen he knows in College Park have been robbed at least once.
To ensure his own safety, Norman takes specific precautions. He only carries $20 in his pocket and leaves the rest of the money, which sometimes exceeds $500, and his wallet in the trunk of his car.
Brian Dunlop, a sophomore letters and sciences major and a Moe’s Southwest Grill deliveryman, leaves his cell phone in his car and parks as close to the house as possible, especially when the delivery is in Greenbelt.
“The second you get the order and you see ‘Greenbelt,’ you’re like, ‘Oh, s—!” said Dunlop, who was robbed this year at the College Park Metro Station.
The crime around the university could be a reflection of the increasing crime in Prince George’s County, which set a record high in late November for homicides with 155, eclipsing the 1991 total of 154, Atwell said.
To prevent future robberies on the campus, Atwell said University Police is focusing on solving robberies and making arrests. The university is also hiring more officers, she added. But Atwell doubts robberies will subside in the near future.
As for Norman, he concedes his bleak situation:
“It may not happen today. It may not happen tomorrow. But at some point someone is going to want your money,” he said.
Contact reporter Brian Freedman at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.
