Jimmy’s Pizza in Annandale has taken steps to prevent robberies of its drivers like the one that occurred June 21, according to company officials. Delivery drivers have started carrying less cash, and deliveries are being verified with call-backs, manager Glenn Keller said last week. Wright County sheriff’s deputies are still looking for two men who assaulted and robbed driver Jolene Shepherd, 19, of Annandale the night of June 21. According to the sheriff’s department, she responded to a call for a pizza at a new home construction site in the Lake Sylvia area of Southside Township. When she arrived about 9:30 p.m., two men restrained her and bound her with duct tape . They stole a money bag with a small amount of cash from Shepherd, then fled in her vehicle. She freed herself from the tape and went to a residence to report the robbery, police said. Deputies recovered her vehicle a short distance from the scene. Drivers are no longer carrying more than $20 in cash since the robbery, Keller said. “They have enough to change a $20 bill and that’s about it,” added Jimmy’s owner David Storevik. “It’s not worth a felony. It’s not worth five years in prison.” About 95 percent of the money they have is in checks anyway, he said. “Very few people pay cash.” Call-backs Jimmy’s is also doing call-backs since the robbery, Keller said. The person who receives the order will take a phone number and call back to verify. If there’s no answer, no delivery will be made. He said it turned out the robbers gave a bogus number, which would have triggered a not-in-service message if a call-back policy had been in place. Jimmy’s was also the target of an attempted break-in about a week before the robbery, Keller said. Storevik said he is confident police will catch the robbers, who didn’t seem like professionals. One of them punched the driver in the face, then apologized for hitting her, he said. The shorter of the two men wore a ski mask and was “very very nervous,” he said. The sheriff’s department described one suspect as a white male about 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a heavy build. He had short brown hair and was wearing a white T-shirt and shiny blue basketball shorts. The second suspect was also a white male, but the sheriff’s department said his description was incomplete. The department asked that anyone with information on the robbery or identity of the men call the criminal investigation division at 763-682-1162.
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