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Domino’s Pizza Driver Shows Up 90 Minutes Late, Allegedly Stabs Customer Over Tip

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 15:25 PST, Jan 9, 2016

A late-arriving Domino’s pizza delivery driver in California allegedly stabbed a customer after they got into an argument over the amount of the tip.

The incident occurred in Covina, which is about 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley area.

“The pizza was one and a half hours late,” police said,” and an altercation ensued over the delivery time,” NBC News Los Angeles reported.

Fortunately the victim avoided serious harm — and not in any way to minimize the dreadful nature of the alleged wrongdoing — but could this incident give an alternative meaning to the old saying, “revenge is a dish best served cold”?

Back in the 1980s, Domino’s guaranteed a 30-minute delivery or the customer would get free pizza. The franchise dropped that guarantee in the 1990s after several personal injury lawsuits about car accidents involving Domino’s drivers.

“When ordering a pizza, hungry customers generally expect that their food will be delivered hot, intact, and within a reasonable time frame. But apparently those expectations proved too much for a delivery driver in Covina, Calif. over the weekend,” Eater observed.

The customer in question, age 20, reportedly tipped the driver just $3 on a $45 order, which is only about seven percent.

The Domino’s driver allegedly refused to leave the doorway in the incident that occurred late last Saturday evening.

“An argument then ensued, and escalated into a physical altercation that moved to the home’s driveway. The victim was then stabbed and transported to a local trauma center. He suffered non-life threatening injuries,” KTLA, Channel 5, explained.

Cops arrested the driver at the Domino’s store at about 1 a.m. on Sunday where he had returned after the confrontation with the unhappy customer and charged him with suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released from jail later that morning after posting $30,000 bail, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Domino’s is said to be the largest pizza franchise in the U.S. and the largest worldwide. It operates 11,700 stores in more than 75 countries, with about 5,000 stores in the U.S.

The suspect, identified by multiple media outlets as Michael Charles Parker, is due back in court on March 21.

“Michael Charles Parker, 31, of Glendora, California, was arrested for allegedly stabbing the 20-year-old victim after what police described as ‘an altercation … over the extended delay of a pizza delivery,'” NBC News detailed.

If the police summary is accurate, this appears to be a rare incident where the Domino’s employee was the alleged perpetrator rather than the victim of a violent crime.

In an email to NBC Los Angeles, a Domino’s Pizza spokesman indicated that the chain was unfamiliar with the incident.

“Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We haven’t heard anything about of this. All the stores in California are owned by independent franchisees and because we have no information, we can’t provide comment other than to say we are shocked by the allegation and hope the customer is OK.”

Domino’s recently implemented a tweet-a-pizza ordering app, whereby a customer can just simply tweet a pizza emoji to Domino’s and the deal is done.

Separately, “Affluenza teen” Ethan Couch and his mom supposedly got captured in Mexico when authorities tracked them down after they made a call to a Puerto Vallarta Domino’s Pizza.

If you’re a Domino’s Pizza customer, how much do you ordinarily tip the driver when he shows up at your front door? Would the amount of the tip be affected by cold pizza?

[Photo by Douglas C. Pizac/AP]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvIkjDnj4vM

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