Pittsburgh police warn about rash of North Side pizza delivery driver robberies

Pittsburgh police on Tuesday issued an alert warning pizza delivery drivers about a rash of armed robberies in the North Side.

At least four drivers dropping off orders to Sunset Avenue and Ames Street near Northview Heights have been robbed at gunpoint. In three of those instances, the robbers made off with a pizza.

The robberies were reported on Oct. 11, Oct. 21 and Monday. Police said all the robbers were black men but did not provide detailed descriptions of them.

The first robbery was reported at 1:04 a.m. Oct. 11, when a pizza delivery driver was robbed by three men on Sunset Avenue. Police said the robbers took pizza and wings, and the victim's wallet, which contained cash and credit cards. At 8 p.m. the same day, two pizzeria employees were robbed as they delivered an order on Sunset Avenue. According to police, the robbers took the victim's cellphones, cash, pizza, soda and a dessert.

An employee at a Spring Garden pizzeria was robbed about 8:30 p.m. Oct. 21 on Ames Street. In this case, the two robbers made off with money and a key to the victim's vehicle.

On Monday, three men robbed another delivery driver on Ames Street. The robbers took a necklace, pizza, cash and a cellphone.

The city Bureau of Police issued safety tips for drivers, which include not carrying more money than needed, not delivering orders to a vacant house, parking as close as possible to the delivery destination, meeting the customer at a real address, verifying the house before delivery, carrying a flashlight and asking the customer for a call-back number.

Police encourage anyone with information about the robberies to call 911.

Madasyn Czebiniak is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-320-7822 or mczebiniak@tribweb.com.