Food Delivery Drivers Targeted by Tampa Robbers

A rash of robberies involving food delivery drivers has the Tampa Police Department taking preventative action.

The agency announced Tuesday that its crime prevention teams will visit restaurant owners over the coming days to make them aware of this growing new crime trend. A total of 13 cases are currently under investigation, spokeswoman Janelle McGregor wrote in an email to media. Those robberies began occurring about four months ago and have mainly involved pizza delivery drivers, but Asian food delivery drivers have also been targeted.

“During the visits, the crime prevention liaisons will provide restaurant managers with important safety tips along with a checklist of suspicious signs to look out for when taking delivery orders,” McGregor’s email stated. “The department hopes that this outreach will help prevent future robberies and keep delivery drivers safe, while detectives continue their investigative work to track down the suspects.”

Police detectives do not believe the robberies are related, rather that several suspects are using the same modus operandi to target delivery drivers in different parts of the city, McGregor noted.

“Based on preliminary information from the victims, the suspects are mainly black males who vary in age, height and overall description,” she wrote. “The majority of the robberies took place in problematic areas throughout the city.”

Image via Shutterstock

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