Local pizza hut suffers from robbery
An armed robbery occurred at Pizza Hut on Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Newbury Park Place shopping center on South Reino Road, only about a mile from campus. The police response included a helicopter to search for the suspect.
The crime played out even closer to junior Conrad Jones’s house than to the school. However, this did not worry Jones as he believes that occasional crime is just part of living in any community.
“I guess the fact that it occurred nearby is a little alarming, but I feel like it’s going to happen no matter what,”Jones said. He went on to say that “even though we do live in a safe community, there are going to be those crimes that do occur, and it shouldn’t be that shocking that it did occur nearby.”
Steven Owens, junior, was at first more surprised than Jones. “I was kind of shocked. Newbury Park is usually not the place to get robberies and stuff like that, but once I started to hear some more of the details about it, it kind of seemed like it was hyped up a little much,” he said.
Pizza Hut Heist – An armed robbery occurred at Pizza Hut about a mile from campus on Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Newbury Park Place shopping center. Courtesy of Google Maps
Shane Doyle, junior, did express some worry. “It’s pretty scary. We don’t usually have violent crime in Newbury Park…and what kind of worsens it is that I just applied (for a job) at Pizza Hut!”
If he was accepted as an employee, Doyle feels that the robbery would not stop him from working there. “I feel like it was a one time incident,” Doyle said.
Jones said that all his life, he and his family have been going to the shopping center where Pizza Hut was robbed, and that the robbery does not make him worry about continuing to visit it. “I don’t really see it as less safe, and overall I am still going to go there,” Jones said.
Owens agreed with Jones. “I go there every Wednesday to get wings, and I still plan on going there every Wednesday.”
Doyle also felt that the robbery would not keep him away from that area, or any other part of Newbury Park. “I like Newbury Park. It’s safe. I still go to Starbucks and CVS (in the shopping center). I guess it kind of makes me double think going over there at night with my friends and whatnot, but not really.”
