Five Star Pizza will stop delivering to Granada Apartments in Northwest Gainesville after a delivery driver was robbed and hospitalized.
At about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, an unidentified man attacked 23-year-old Jacob Case with a metal bat during a delivery.
Case, a driver for the Southwest Second Avenue location, said he knocked on the door and waited for an answer that never came.
He then walked to his car and called a phone number listed on the order. Once again, nobody answered.
Though his memory fades after the phone call, Case said he turned around and a man abruptly appeared and hit him in the head.
The next few seconds were spent on top of the pizzas, unconscious, Case said.
“The whole time I was kind of just like ‘what the fuck’ over and over again,” he said. “I was on my hands and knees spitting out blood and the whole time he kept yelling at me like ‘give me the money, give me the money.’”
Case said he gave his wallet to the man, who took about $35 and ran away. Case then drove about eight blocks to the police department, where authorities then called an ambulance.
Due to hemophilia, Case said his blood does not clot well, meaning he could easily perish from blood loss.
“I could hardly even see because my face was gushing with blood,” Case said. “With bleeding, with trauma like that, I was basically about to die if I wouldn’t have made it to the hospital.”
Ernie Kimbler, the owner of Five Star Pizza for 16 years, said there are about a dozen areas the company now avoids after similar incidents.
He also said employees with concealed weapons permits are allowed to carry whatever they feel is needed for protection.
However, it is uncommon for delivery drivers to get hurt on the job, said Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias.
“Gainesville as a whole does have its problems with crime in some areas, but our food delivery guys in town are very good at keeping themselves safe and knowing where they should and should not deliver,” he said.
The attack, Case said, was likely planned because the apartment was vacant and the phone number belonged to a woman in Rhode Island.
“I’m glad it was me instead of somebody else, though,” Case said.
As of press time, a fundraiser on generosity.com has resulted in about $2,500 in donations to support Case.
Do not deliver:
- Cedar Ridge
- Holly Heights
- Gordon Manor
- Linton Oaks Neighborhood
- Tower Oaks Glen
- 44th Place in Tower Village
- Majestic Oaks
- Turtle Oaks
- Mossy Oaks
- Southern Pines
- Five Oaks
- Woodcrest
