Pizza delivery driver robbed at gunpoint, then fired from Papa Johns

AURORA, Colo. – A pizza delivery driver says he was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night, had his car stolen and was then fired from his job at Papa John’s Pizza.
 
Reza Abolhassani said it was one of the scariest nights of his life.
 
He says he’d pulled into the condo complex parking lot at 14221 East 1st Drive in Aurora and saw a guy in the window of the landing.
 
“I thought he was the customer waiting for the pizza,” Abolhassani said. “As I walked up the stairs, two men ran at me, said, ‘shhhh, where’s the money.’”
 
He said the men pointed a gun at his chest and then his head.
 
“I just told them, ‘please don’t shoot me. I have a three year old kid,’” he said.
 
Abolhassani said he called his shift manager to report the robbery and she put him on hold, so he hung up and called police.
 
Aurora police say the alleged robbers got away with an undisclosed amount of cash and with the victim’s car, a grey, 2006 Nissan Sentra with Colorado plates 861-VBX.
 
The former delivery driver told 7NEWS that the regular manager called him the next day.
 
“He asked ‘What happened? Why did you not put your money in the red box?’ which he never gave me.”
 
Abolhassani said company policy limits the amount of cash that drivers can carry with them. He said the limit is $20. The rest of their money is supposed to be placed in a red box kept at the store.
 
“(The manager) gave me a box for about week, then took my name off of it and gave it to someone else,” he said.
 
When asked why the manager did that, Abolhassani said, “I don’t know.”
 
He said since he didn’t have a box, he kept the money with him and that’s why he was fired.
 
Supervisors at the Papa Johns on South Chambers near Alameda said they couldn’t talk about the case and referred 7NEWS to corporate.
 
Corporate did not return our phone call.
 
Abolhassani said it’s sad that the company wouldn’t give him a second chance.
 
“They said, ‘I’m sorry Reza. We know you’re a good driver, but we can’t keep you because it’s the policy.’”
 
Abolhassani says what’s ironic is that the employee who took the order Sunday night cancelled it because it didn’t sound like a ‘legitimate’ order.
 
“She said the customer was rude and while placing the order, handed his phone off to another individual.”
 
He said that when the customer called back a second time, the shift manager pushed him to make the delivery.
 
“She said, ‘they’re regular customers. Just make the delivery,’” he told 7NEWS. “I told her before I left the store, ‘if I don’t come back in 20 minutes, please call the cops.”
 
Abolhassani said he’s looking for a new job. He said he doesn’t want to deliver pizza late at night anymore.
 
“I don’t think my wife will let me do that,” he said.