Business Owner Offers Free Pizza For A Year To Nab A Crook

A pizzeria owner hopes to take a bite out crime, literally. He's offering free pizza for a year to anyone who can help catch the person who stole from him. News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports

Wednesday, September 5th 2007, 9:00 pm

By: News On 6

A pizzeria owner hopes to take a bite out crime, literally. He's offering free pizza for a year to anyone who can help catch the person who stole from him. News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports Travis Lawley is out to get the person who broke into his store last week, so he started a pizza posse to cook up leads.

Travis Lawley is out of a lot of dough, but not the kind that rises.

â€œIn the wee hours of Thursday morning someone come in the back door. I guess they used a crowbar. They come in and helped themselves to the register and where we keep our extra cash,â€ said Minuteman Pizza Parlor owner Travis Lawley.

The thief also helped himself to Lawley's kitchen, nabbing two cases of beer before he left.

â€œI think it was an inside job myself,â€ said customer Brian Wattenbarger. â€œI just can't imagine anyone wanting to burglarize a place like this.â€

Neither can Lawley, he's worked at Minute Man Pizza Parlor since he was 15 and has owned it for 10 years. He says no one has ever robbed the place.

â€œWhen people come in it's kinda like â€œCheers.â€ Everybody knows your name,â€ Lawley said.

He just hopes someone can now name the thief.

â€œWell I just knew there was a way to turn lemons into lemonade,â€ said Lawley.

Or free pizza that's how Lawley hopes to restore order around these parts.

â€œThat solution is forming the pizza posse,â€ he said. â€œYou come in, join the club, give me $30 and I give you $30 in gift certificates, so paying for the gift certificates I give you a free T-shirt and when the perps are caught we're throwing a pizza party,â€ he said.

He's also offering free pizza for a year to anyone who can help nab the burglar. By the looks of the satisfied customers hot pizza may be even better than cold hard cash.

Lawley says so far five people have joined his posse, but he hasn't received any leads on the burglary yet.

The Minuteman Pizza Parlor is located in Sand Springs at 41st and 113th West Avenue.