Masked suspects steal pizza delivery cars after placing bogus orders, police say
By Juli McDonald
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BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Quincy police say a pair of criminals orchestrated a scheme to steal cars from pizza shop employees who were delivering food. The most recent incident targeted Mama Bear’s Kitchen in Quincy this weekend.
A team of two keeps Mama Bear’s preparing and delivering orders until 3 a.m. After a busy Sunday this past weekend, driver Paul Bates was delivering an order to Southern Artery around 11 o’clock.
“As I turned around, there were two hooded people, all dressed in black, black COVID surgical masks on and everything. I swore at them and asked what they were doing, and they jumped right in the vehicle and off they went,” Bates recalled.
Those suspects had called in the fake order.
Investigators say the same thing happened to a different pizza place over Labor Day weekend. On August 31, around 8:30 p.m. on Berlin Street, a man wearing dark clothing and a mask acted as a decoy by occupying the driver on the porch of the delivery location. While the driver was distracted, a second person entered the vehicle and drove away. The first man then ran off.
“You’re not here to make millions but to make a buck and live and survive,” Mama Bear’s owner Noemi LeBron said. “It causes anxiety. Now you always have to watch your back.”
Bates had the car’s key fob in his pocket, so after a long joy ride on a full tank of gas, the car was found a day later dumped at the mall.
Quincy police are reminding business owners and all drivers to stay alert, lock cars, and limit how much cash you carry. At Mama Bear’s Kitchen, they’ve borrowed a car to make deliveries until they know their own is safe to drive.
“That’s part of the business. The show must go on. Just keep on going, just pray, and hopefully it doesn’t happen again,” LeBron said.
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