Three Arrested In Robbery, Beating Of Delivery Driver

A Muskogee man is struggling to recover from what Muskogee Police are calling a senseless crime. Police say 32-year-old Jason Rush was brutally beaten Monday night while delivering pizza. The News On

Wednesday, September 19th 2007, 6:20 am

By: News On 6

A Muskogee man is struggling to recover from what Muskogee Police are calling a senseless crime. Police say 32-year-old Jason Rush was brutally beaten Monday night while delivering pizza. The News On 6â€™s Chris Wright reports authorities say he was the unfortunate victim of a planned crime, lured to an abandoned home to make a delivery, then beaten with a baseball bat.

Jason Rush has delivered pizzas on and off at the Muskogee Dominoâ€™s on Okmulgee Street for the past decade.

"He's a really good guy. Very hard worker, he's well liked by everyone, this has affected everybody," Dominoâ€™s manager Lisa Marder said.

On Monday night, Jason left to make a routine delivery a few blocks away. He showed up at the house with three pizzas that's when Muskogee police says he was jumped, hit in the head and mugged. Police say the assault and robbery at the abandoned home was especially senseless because of Domino's policy. Drivers never carry more than $20.

"Who knows what they were thinking at the time? Probably thinking they wouldn't get caught, maybe they thought he had more money," said Kris Ledford of the Muskogee Police Department.

His co-workers say a disoriented Rush, bleeding from his ears, somehow managed to make his way back to work. He couldn't remember what had happened, but told his boss he needed to go home. Police say he crashed his car while trying to get there. After talking to Domino's employees, Muskogee police eventually connected the wreck and robbery.

On Tuesday, after tracing the cell phone used to order the pizzas, police arrested Christina Hall, Jesse Moler and Robert Peters. One suspect was actually found directly across the street from the Dominos.

"It's sad to say but we see it all the time,â€ Ledford said. â€œPeople would do something like this for $24 and some pizza. They risk going to jail for an undetermined amount of time."

Police believe the beating contributed to Rush's injuries more than his accident did. He was listed in critical condition on Wednesday.

The manager of the Muskogee Dominoâ€™s says delivery men have been robbed before, but she's never seen anything this severe.

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