Police: Carjacker forced pizza delivery driver to lead officers on chase
PASADENA, Texas - A Pizza Hut delivery driver is opening up to FOX 26 about the terrifying experience of being carjacked and forced into a high-speed chase with police.
Houston police say a pizza delivery driver was forced to lead officers on a chase as a carjacker held him at gunpoint.
The delivery driver says it all began at Pizza Hut when he hit the road for his last delivery of the night last night. It started around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday when officers responded to a crash where a driver failed to stop and give information.
The Pizza Hut delivery driver says he saw a man with a 2-year-old boy on the side of the East Freeway, but when he pulled over to check on them, the man pulled out a shotgun.
“He grabbed a gun, and he put it to my head and said drive, drive. And that instant, a cop was rolling up with his lights on," the driver said, too afraid to show his face as the suspect, 25-year-old Elpidio Cruz Jr. is still on the run from police.
Officers say Cruz brought his 2-year-old son along with the shotgun into the back seat of the pizza delivery car and a police chase began.
“I’m looking at the kid in my rearview, and I’m like, I don’t want no part of this. Please don’t shoot me," the driver said. "“He was crying the whole time. He was pointing—trying to get out of the guy’s arms.”
He says Cruz demanded he drive faster, reaching speeds up to 100 miles per hour.
“He’s just telling me to go faster. I’m trying to tell him I’m trying as hard as I can. I heard the gun click to my head," said the driver.
It eventually ended on Shaver Street just south of 225. Police say the gunman directed the driver to his girlfriend's house in Pasadena.
Officers then learned that the driver was actually a pizza delivery man who had been carjacked and forced to flee police while a shotgun was pointed at him, authorities say.
“Before I could even come to a complete stop, he jumps out and just bails, left his kid in the back seat," said the driver.
Police say the 2-year-old was not hurt and when they brought him home to his mother, they found a large amount of narcotics in her house and issued a warrant against her.
As for the gunman’s motive?
“When he got in, he said, ‘I’m on parole. I have guns on me. I can’t go back,'" the driver reports.
Authorities have decided not to release a photo of Cruz even though he has mug shots from a slew of prior arrests. CPS has been referred to the case, since both parents of the 2 year old are facing charges.