Pizza Delivery Man Pistol-Whipped In Winona
WINONA, Minn. (WCCO) -- Two men and two juveniles in Winona are accused of calling for pizzas to be delivered, pistol-whipping the pizza delivery guy and robbing him of his wallet.
According to charges filed in Winona County District Court, the incident happened early the morning of Sept. 5.
A Domino's Pizza received an order just after midnight from someone claiming to be "Rico" for three thin-crust pizzas -- one pepperoni, one sausage and one Hawaiian.
The caller asked for the pizzas to be delivered to an address on High Forest Street.
Within an hour, police responded to report of a burglary and discovered the pizza delivery guy, unnamed in the criminal complaint, dazed and confused near Mark and Zumbro streets. He was also bleeding from the ear.
The criminal complaint says he had suffered "an obvious concussion."
The delivery man said he had been attacked by three people wearing masks. He told officers he couldn't remember arriving at work and couldn't say where he'd made deliveries earlier. There were slips in the car that led officers to the various delivery locations, one of which they found blood droplets and the delivery man's cap.
They traced the phone call back to a residence on Mankato Avenue. The two named defendants, 21-year-old Derek Frederick Banitt and 19-year-old Romeo Lee Bautista, both live at the residence.
Police found a .40-caliber handgun there.
After interviews, police officers determined that the two, along with two juvenile males, plotted to rob the delivery man after sending him to a nearby residence. They took both the delivery man's wallet but also the pizzas.
Banitt and Bautista have been arrested and are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 15.
