'Change needs to happen,' New owner replaces Stash's with Rock City Pizza
ROSLINDALE - A local pizza shop owner is taking over a new location with a difficult past. Joseph Charles owns Rock City Pizza. You will soon find his third establishment in Roslindale. The spot used to be a Stash's Pizza.
The owner of Stash's, 47-year-old Stavros Papantoniadis, is facing a charge of forced labor. Prosecutors say he hired undocumented immigrants and forced them to work long hours. Investigators also say they found videos on his cloud account that showed violent beatings. Papantoniadis's defense attorneys argue the claims are decades old and that the victims are looking for immigration assistance.
"I think people are kind of just shocked at everything that was alleged," said Charles, "Hopefully they will get some answers and we can move forward."
Charles immigrated to the United States from Haiti when he was 7 years old. He felt like he needed to move into the location.
"After the news broke, I felt compelled, as an immigrant myself, that change needs to happen. I'm not going to sit around and wait for someone else to do it," explained Charles, "When you are an immigrant, you don't know your rights. You're not aware of if people are taking advantage of you, and even if you are, you don't know how to go about pursuing legal action against them."
Rock City Pizza in Roslindale is still in the process of being converted into the new shop. Charles does not have a grand opening date just yet.
"I want people to know this is a place they can come to and feel safe. That will never change as long as I am here," says Charles.