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Pizza driver worries about his job after fighting off robbersDec 19, 2012 (The Capital - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Sam Swicegood suspects, just a few days after getting robbed in Glen Burnie, that he will lose his job. The 24-year-old delivery driver for Pizza Hut was attacked at about 7:30 p.m. Friday by five teenage boys when he tried to deliver a pizza in the 6400 block of Lincoln Court. At least one of the robbers punched Swicegood in the face and shoulders before he was able to fight them off, police and Swicegood said. Nothing was taken. Exactly what Swicegood used to defend himself is in question. Anne Arundel County Police described it in their press release on the incident as a metal pipe or rod. But Swicegood said it was a fiberglass tent stake he had in the back seat. "I was just worried about people thinking I was carrying around a lead pipe or whatnot up my sleeve, when in reality I just grabbed an improvised thing from the back of my car," he said. Now he fears Pizza Hut of Maryland, which is sending a representative to speak with him about the incident, will dismiss him because of a company policy banning weapons at work. A spokesman for the company in Columbia declined to comment on the incident Tuesday afternoon, except to say that no one had spoken with Swicegood yet. They also would not comment on company policy regarding weapons or defense against robberies. Swicegood, a government and politics student at Anne Arundel Community College, said he was worried that night because a co-worker had been robbed in the area just a week before. He asked his manager if he could keep a lower profile. "I had made concerns to Pizza Hut about the area and how I didn't want to have the Pizza Hut topper on the car," he said. After the robbery, he said the manager of his store told him to expect a visit from corporate and added he should have come back to the store if he was worried about his safety. Police searched the area after the robbery and found three teenagers, a 13-year-old boy and two 14-year-old boys, hiding or running nearby. They were charged as juveniles with robbery, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Justin Mulcahy, a police spokesman, verified the report filled out by officers on the scene identified the object as a metal pipe or rod, and was unable to check if that was an accurate description. Swicegood praised police and said he wasn't worried about the report. "I won't worry too much about the police report's inaccuracy," Swicegood said. "I owe a lot to the police because they were able to catch most of the guys who did this." Now he's just worried about finding work. ___ (c)2012 The Capital (Annapolis, Md.) Visit The Capital (Annapolis, Md.) at www.hometownannapolis.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |