Domino's delivery man noticed customer's girlfriend mouthing something to him - he immediately called 911 and saved her
Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of abuse that some readers may find distressing.
A little vigilance can save lives in the most unfortunate circumstances. Take Joey Grundl for example. The pizza delivery man was working with Domino's when he had the chance to become a woman's savior. As reported by WDJT-TV., the incident took place in 2018 in the Sheboygan County area of Wisconsin. It was just another day for Grundl when he showed up to deliver a pizza at a location. The pizza was ordered by a man named Dean Hoffmann but Grundl noticed something unusual behind him.
Grundl noticed a woman behind Hoffmann who had a black eye as he felt something was definitely off about the whole scenario. Hoffmann had forced his way into his ex-girlfriend's house where he allegedly beat her up and tied her up. The 55-year-old Hoffmann was later arrested by the cops when Grundl decided to dial 911 after noticing the woman inside the house mouth "help me" to him. "It's kind of scary," Grundl told FOX 13. "Gave him his pizza, and noticed behind him was his girlfriend. She pointed to a black eye that was quite visible. She mouthed the words 'call police.'"
The 57-year-old woman later made a criminal complaint in Hoffmann's name and stated that they had started dating in 2016 and lived together until August 2018. They had broken up and the woman moved to a new home. The investigation that was carried out after the events revealed that around 1 p.m. that day, Hoffmann entered his ex-girlfriend's home without her permission. She told Hoffmann to leave and rushed to call the police. But Hoffmann snatched away the phone from her and dragged her upstairs. The woman fought back and told the investigators how she kicked Hoffmann in the groin.
Hoffmann locked her in the bathroom as the woman tended to her bloody nose. He forced her upstairs and tied her feet and hands with a power cord from her vacuum. However, Hoffmann untied her after 30 minutes but he refused to let her out of the house. "If you love me, you will let me go," the woman recalled telling Hoffmann but he still refused. She also shared that Hoffman mentioned "how he should have brought his gun from the car so that he could shoot both of them." He even posed as the woman then used her phone and texted her children, telling them she was sick and they didn't have to come over for a few days.
Fortunately, Hoffman's call to order a Domino's pizza became an opportunity for the victim to make her escape. Grundl came to make the delivery, discovered the woman and promptly called 911. "I showed up and gave the guy his pizza. Behind him was a woman...I could see her black eye in her right eye," Grundl told Inside Edition. He added, "That's where she pointed to and mouthed the words 'help me' and shortly thereafter, mouthed again to me, 'Call the police'." Hoffmann initially resisted but eventually allowed the police officers to enter the house and surrendered. He was carrying a .22 caliber firearm in the trunk of his car, and he faced charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation, felony intimidation of a victim and burglary in a building.