Pizza Hut robbery reported in Boardman

The employee fled the store and called police from a nearby gas station.

staff report

BOARDMAN — An assistant manager at a South Avenue restaurant reported the business was robbed at gunpoint.

Police were called to Pizza Hut, 8535 South Ave., at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday after the assistant manager fled the store and called 911 from the Shell station on East Western Reserve Road.

The man told police that he received a phone call about 1:25 a.m. from someone asking if the business was open. The man, who was alone in the store, told the caller the business was closed.

A short time later, he opened a door to take out the trash to find two men standing at the door holding guns. Both men wore stocking caps and one wore a ski mask. The men entered the store and pushed him to the floor, putting the guns to his head. They ordered him to give them his wallet and the money from the store’s safe.

The man gave them his wallet and tried to rise from the floor to go to the safe. The robbers wouldn’t allow the employee to get off the floor until he reached the safe. The employee opened the safe, and the robbers removed the money.

They then said they knew there was more money in the store. The employee told them he would get the money and then fled from the store to the gas station.

Police found the employee’s car, also taken during the robbery, unoccupied in the lot of a Bev Road business.