Pizza Time employee fights back against armed robber -- gun goes off

LACEY, Wash. – Robbers targeting Pizza Time restaurants struck again, but this time an employee fought back.

When the crook grabbed the cash, an employee pushed the crook out the door and got the money back. During the struggle, the crook’s gun went off, firing a bullet into the ceiling.

No one was injured.

It’s exactly what police have worried could happen -- that the violence during one of the Pizza Time robberies would escalate.

For employee Jordan Raudenbush, Saturday night was anything but a normal shift.

“It just looked like he went to the store and bought a toy gun,” he said, “Like an old western (movie) toy gun.”

Surveillance video shows the masked gunman barging into the store. He immediately confronts Raudenbush and goes for the cash.

“We had one more delivery and, unfortunately, that guy didn’t even get his pizza,” said Raudenbush.

But when the robber got physical, Raudenbush said that’s when he had enough and he told the thief exactly what he should do with his gun.

“I don’t got time for this, get the 'F' out,” said Raudenbush.

Raudenbush then took control and wrestled the gunman out the front door. During the struggle, the gun went off, leaving a bullet hole in the ceiling.

“I guess (it) hasn’t registered for me, the fact that I could have got shot in the face," Raudenbush said.

He got the money back and the thief took off, likely hitting the Spanaway Pizza Time less than an hour later.

Just last week an armed robber targeted the Puyallup Pizza Time restaurant, and now cops are looking into whether a string of robberies are connected to the same gunman.

“If this is connected to a series, it seems he’s trying to do these more and more often,” said Puyallup Police Chief Bryan Jeter.

Raudenbush just hopes the crook doesn’t come back to Lacey for a second attempt.

“I’d hope that he’d stop,” he said. “It’s not really worth it.”

The owner of Pizza Time in Olympia is offering free pizza for an entire year to whomever brings the gunman to justice.

If you have information in any of these cases, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.