Howard County police arrested a 14-year-old Columbia boy for robbing a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint and attempting to set up other drivers to be robbed.
The incident was at least the second robbery of a Pizza Boli?s driver in Howard County in the last four weeks. Police say the robberies are unrelated.
In the case of the teen suspect, the Pizza Boli?s at the 7000 block of Oakland Mills Road received an order for pizza delivery at about 9:30 p.m. May 27 to an apartment on Gentle Shade Road in Columbia, Howard County police said.
No one answered the door when the pizza delivery man arrived. As the delivery man left, a male wearing a mask pointed a gun at the man and robbed him of his money and cell phone. The pizza delivery driver was not injured, police said.
Howard County investigators tracked the teen down through phone records. On Friday, detectives served a search warrant at the suspect?s home and found evidence linking him to the robbery. Detectives say they believe the teen likely used a BB gun in the robbery.
Police said the suspect had attempted to set up similar robberies by phone in late May.
The suspect was arrested by Howard County police on Friday and was detained by the Department of Juvenile Justice.
During the first week in May, a 42-year-old delivery man reported being robbed at gunpoint of more than $300 in Elkridge by three men dressed in black and wearing ski masks.
Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said the department conducts outreach campaigns with area food merchants to help them avoid such robberies.
Police recommend that delivery drivers carry a flashlight, avoid carrying large amounts of cash, refuse pay-phone deliveries and use caller ID, Llewellyn said.
“One of the biggest issues is they should train their drivers to be aware, to look out for anything suspicious,” she said.
The manager of the Columbia Pizza Boli?s could not be reached for comment.
