Delivery driver saved woman during pizza drop off after she mouthed ‘help me’
**WARNING: this article contains details about violent abuse**
A Domino's Pizza driver saved a woman after he spotted her mouthing ‘help me’ and called the police.
Joey Grundl was dropping off a pizza at the property in Wisconsin back in September of 2018, but when he was taking payment from a man inside, he noticed that a woman was standing behind him with a black eye and blood on her.
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He thought that he saw her mouth ‘help me’ and ‘call the police’ so once he left the property, that was what he did.
And it turned out that he was dead right, as the woman had been kidnapped.
Speaking to local TV station WITI Milwaukee, Grundl explained: “I gave him his pizza and then I noticed behind him was his girlfriend.
"She pointed to a black eye that was quite visible.
“She mouthed the words, 'Call the police'."
As he got back into his delivery vehicle, Grundl decided that he had to call the cops, and when they eventually arrived at the property, the man – Dean Hoffman – attempted to barricade the door, but eventually let police into the woman’s home.
He was arrested and the woman was taken to hospital.
It transpired that earlier that day, Hoffman, who was the woman's ex-boyfriend, had entered the house without permission, according to the police report.
When she threatened to call the authorities, he allegedly threatened to shoot her with a gun that was in his car, and the woman admitted that she was scared for her life, telling police later that she was ‘sure she was going to die’.
Speaking in another interview with NBC News, Grundl said: "I showed up, it was a normal delivery, and saw this middle-aged couple,
"The guy answers the door and I hand over the pizza, when I noticed that the woman behind him, who turned out to be his ex, had a black eye.
"She mouthed 'help me' to me and then after when the guy left to get money and she mouthed 'call the police.'
“This was just as I was about to leave.
“I left and then when I got back to the restaurant, which is about an 8-minute drive away, I dialled 911.”
In 2022, 59-year-old Hoffman was found not guilty of the most serious charges against him – conspiracy to murder and solicitation of murder from in jail, with the latter allegation coming after this incident.
However, he was found guilty of conspiracy to intimidate a witness, as well as kidnapping, suffocating, harming, and intimidating the woman.
Tom Wood