Police Battering Ram Brings Pizza Thief to Justice

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Police in Eastpoint, Michigan, arrested 19-year-old Jessica Gray on Wednesday after an incident in which she allegedly grabbed an order of food from the delivery man and then slammed the door and refused to pay him.  Gray and her four female friends (ages 14 to 21) also refused to open the door for the police, who eventually broke it down with a battering ram.

The delivery man told police that he had shown up with an order of pizza, ribs, chicken, shrimp, and one soda, at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.  He said Gray answered the door, took the meal, then slammed the door.  All five women then allegedly joined in yelling insults at the delivery man from inside the apartment, as well as threatening him when he refused to leave.  The man decided to call police rather than try to deal with the situation himself.  "[Gray] was rough when she took it from him," said a police detective on the case, "and she was large enough where he didn’t want to fight her."

According to the police report, the women also refused to open the door for the responding officers, who could hear them "laughing and whispering inside."  The laughing and whispering likely ended when police broke the door down with a battering ram.  Once inside, the delivery man identified Gray as the thief.  The choice to go beyond pizza when ordering then proved fateful, since police were able to seize as evidence a number of rib bones, chicken bones, and shrimp tails.

Gray was arrested and charged with felony larceny, posting a $5,000 bond, as a result of grabbing $17.18 worth of food.

Link: CBS News