Pizza might really be man's best friend, and no one believed this more than Kirk Alexander, who became best friends with the employees at his local Domino's store. They knew him by name, and he ordered a pizza every single week for almost a decade. What might seem like a lazy dinner choice, actually ended up saving Kirk's life...
Meeting Kirk
Kirk Alexander lived alone in his Salem, Oregon home. The 48-year-old bachelor wasn’t much of a chef, so instead of cooking up his own meals, he often ordered from the local Silverton Road Domino’s pizza shop. In fact, he ordered from the restaurant so frequently, that the store owners claimed they saw his name on their order screen once every other day. At the very least, the man was consistent...
Kirk's Order
The customer was such a big fan of the fast-food chain, that you might assume he had a go-to order, but such was not the case with Kirk. Instead, he famously never ordered the same foods twice. Pasta one day, pizza the next, chicken wings maybe, a salad or two sprinkled in between the days of the week. The man liked to have some variety, and the workers definitely noticed...
Call from Kirk
Since his orders were so inconsistent, the employees at Domino’s liked to try to predict his order of the day. They’d place bets on who could guess his order, which always came in around 6:30 PM. One day though, at 7:30 PM, they still hadn’t heard from the frequent guest. This wasn’t too bad; Kirk sometimes would skip a few days of orders. Still, though, they definitely were aware…
Time Passes
The day came and went, as did the day after. Days went by, then a week, then another. Kirk was nowhere to be seen and no one had heard from him. Where had he gone? The employees decided to alert the manager of the unusual disappearance. Everyone had a theory about where the man went, but no one knew for sure. Hopefully, he was at least staying safe, wherever he was...
Guessing Game
Was he in trouble? Did he just go on a long vacation? Did he find a new go-to spot? The worst thought crossed their mind: Was he, god forbid...hurt or dead? General Manager Sarah Fuller knew how important the man was to her employees, so she took matters into her own hands. She could no longer ignore his sudden absence in good conscience...
Making a Move
“A few of my drivers had mentioned that we hadn’t seen his order come across our screen in a while,” said Sarah “So I went and looked up to see how long it had been since he last ordered. It was 11 days, which is not like him at all.” Ever since 2009, Kirk had always made an order at least a few times a week. He was more than a customer, he was like family, especially to Sarah…
Sarah Fuller's Story
Sarah had been working at the store ever since Kirk started visiting and ordering. She was only a delivery driver at the time and regularly made the journey to Kirk’s home only about five minutes away from the store. She and Kirk began a sort of friendship like this, her bringing him pizza every day. He tipped fairly well and became a favorite trip. She was hoping he was safe in his house all alone…
Home Visit
Sarah sent Tracey Hamblen to Kirk Alexander’s home. Tracey had been a longtime employee as well and knew about Kirk. Tracey approached his door and knocked loudly. Tracey could see the TV playing and the indoor lights on, but no one came to the door. After several minutes of knocking and ringing the doorbell, Tracey knew something was very wrong inside the house…
Making the Call
Hamblen tried one more trick. He picked up the phone and dialed Kirk’s home phone number, which the staff had on file from all his previous orders. The phone call went right to voicemail. He rushed back to the pizza location and relayed the news to Fuller, who promptly alerted the proper authorities. The officers went over for a wellness check, but even they were surprised…
Police Call
The police arrived at Kirk’s door and knocked, just like Hamblen had, to find no response. Defeated, they decided to lean in close to the door, just in case they heard anything inside. Thank God they did, because the deputies heard a man calling for help on the other side. They sprang into action to break down the door. Who knew how much time he had left before this situation became fatal…
Safe at Last
Kirk Alexander was rushed to Salem Hospital as the officers saw he was not well. One officer described the scene as “in need of immediate medical attention.” Kirk had apparently suffered a stroke while in his home, and so he was unable to move off the floor. Furthermore, he couldn’t reach the phone. Without his regular Domino’s order, would anyone have found him?!
Visiting Hours
After he was brought into the hospital, it wasn’t long until Kirk was back in stable condition and could start accepting visitors. He wasn’t expecting much since he lived alone and didn’t have any close family to speak of...or so he thought. The employees from Domino’s brought flowers, cards, and food to his bedside. He was so incredibly moved by their kind gesture, and knew they deserved the world in return…
The Right Thing to Do
“[Kirk is] just an important customer that’s part of our family here at Domino's. He orders all the time so we know him,” said Sarah Fuller “I think we were just doing our job checking in on someone we know who orders a lot. We felt like we needed to do something.” But what would come of their good deed, if anything? Well, it turns out, the world was watching out for them...
Real Superheroes
Fuller and the team at Domino’s weren’t expecting anything from their good deed, but they were rewarded nonetheless. Sarah Fuller and her assistant manager, Jenny Sieber, got to speak during a segment on Good Morning America. There, they received a first look at Captain America: Civil War, since they were ‘real-life superheroes’. The fun rewards didn’t stop there…
Rally Together
The team also got an invite to speak at a corporate Domino’s event. Since the team became so close with their customer, close enough to save his life, the company wanted to highlight their accomplishments and incredible life-saving achievement. The best part? It was all happening in Vegas, so they got a free vacation, but not every delivery hero receives this level of attention...
Joey's Pizza Delivery
Joey Grundl was another pizza delivery driver, though he was not close with his customers like Kirk and the Domino’s team. He went out on a pretty routine run, delivering just one cheese pizza to a local house. When he approached the door, he noticed only one car in the driveway but didn’t think anything of it. Maybe he should have taken a closer look around the house before approaching…
Pizza Hand-Off
The door opened up to a large, bearded man who was blocking a woman from the door with his body. “I gave him his pizza, and noticed behind him was his girlfriend” recalled Joey. However, things were about to go from bad to worse. The woman moved to the back of the room while the man searched for his wallet. Joey glanced up just in time to see something vitally important…
Send Help
The woman stood under a lamp, where Joey could clearly see she was bruised badly. She pointed up to her black eye and mouthed the words. “Help me!” and “Call the police!” Turning his attention back to the man in front of him, Joey saw the guy in a new light. This wasn’t just a normal pizza delivery trip, this was a life-or-death situation. Joey knew the had an important task at hand...
Calling Authorities
Joey quickly returned to his car and brought out his cell phone. He dialed 911 and explained the situation. Hopefully, the authorities would get there in time. He called his manager to inform him of the situation. Joey waited a block away from the house so that he could keep an eye on the place if anything terrible happened before the police got there, or if the woman managed to escape…
Police Arrive
When the cops knocked on the door, the man, Dean Hoffman, answered the door. He pushed the woman to the back of the room and told her to stay there. He eventually allowed the authorities inside, where he was promptly arrested for the battery of his girlfriend, as well as a slew of other charges. Then, they got the full terrifying story from the traumatized victim…
Falling Hard
The couple had started dating in 2016. The woman was 55 at the time and excited to start dating again after going through a tough divorce. The pair dated for two years before they moved in together and soon fell into a terrible relationship. They finally broke it off in August of 2018. The woman moved out on her own and left Hoffman for good, or so she had thought. Things weren't so good for long...
The Break-Up Break-In
At 1 PM on Thursday, September 27th, 2018, Dean Hoffman forced his way into the ex-girlfriend’s home. She asked him to leave, but he had a plan. He wanted to hurt her as she hurt him, and he wasn’t going to leave until he had made his point. She tried her best to call the police, but Hoffman got it from her and threw her cell phone at a wall. She was about to live out a nightmare…
Taking a Hostage
Hoffman then grabbed the woman by her waist and shoved her against the steps, ripping her hair in the process. He tried to pull the woman up the stairs, which she fought. She punched Hoffman in the stomach and groin in an effort to escape, but he promptly retaliated against her, giving her the black eye. It was then that she envisioned the pizza plan that would save her life...
Panic Plan
After violently locking her in a bathroom, stuffing her mouth with a towel, and binding her arms and legs, Hoffman had to reevaluate what he would do. Since the woman had kids, he used her laptop to text them and tell them not to call or visit, as she was very sick. She made one final pleading request to Dean Hoffman, crying out “Please, Dean, if you love me... you will let me go…”
Beginning to Worry
Hoffman replied, “You know I can’t do that.” But he was starting to get worried. What was his plan? Would he kill her, or himself? He certainly didn’t want to go to jail. He kept her inside the home for three days. “I truly believed [he] was going to kill me that night,” the victim said. Luckily, Hoffman got a little hungry for a pie from the local pizza store he loved so much…
Hoffman's Order
After a few days of holding the woman hostage in her home, he realized they were running out of food. He couldn’t leave her alone and risk her being discovered or escaping. He thought an easy fix would be to just order some food from a local pizza store. Once he had had a full meal, he’d be able to figure out a plan of how he could get out of the situation without punishment…
Hatching a Plan
When she heard the call being made, she decided the time for action had finally come. After ordering, she informed him that she needed to leave the bathroom so she could collect tampons from the downstairs bathroom. Hoffman was uncomfortable with completing the request himself, so he agreed and released her, with conditions...
Stay Put
She was supposed to stay in the downstairs bathroom until the pizza had been delivered, lest she put the man at risk for being discovered. She agreed, but little did Hoffman know that being discovered was exactly her plan. She wasn’t going down without a genuine shot at trying to get out alive, so she waited and waited until finally, it was the perfect moment to strike…
Delivery Arrives
When Joey finally came to the door, she heard her ex-boyfriend rise from the couch. She left the bathroom right before the door opened, and hoped she could edge out the front. This was obviously blocked, so she prayed that the delivery driver would be able to help her, and luckily, Joey Grundl did just that. He saw her plea from behind Hoffman's back and knew just what to do...
Hoffman Exposed
Hoffman was promptly arrested for kidnapping, false imprisonment, strangulation, suffocation, felony intimidation of a victim, burglary of a building, and battery. He was also carrying a .22 caliber firearm in his car and had allegedly planned on killing both of them. Thankfully, Joey had gotten the right idea at the right moment, so everyone came out of the scene alive…
Meeting Celebs
The local and national response to Joey’s bravery and quick thinking got him the spotlight for a short period. He was able to meet country and pop singer Taylor Swift, who thanked him for his heroism. He said it was something anyone would have done, but he was glad to have been able to catch the evil act. It didn't hurt that he also got a thank-you from his favorite singer...
Local Response
“I'm grateful [the delivery driver] was paying attention,” said neighbor Amy Hammarlund, who had known the victim “Because it could have been a lot worse.” Thankfully though, the 57-year-old woman managed to escape his grip and will face him in court one day. She has not been named to protect her identity, but she's presumably living a better life now that she's safe from Dean Hoffman...
Pizza Delivery Dangers
According to recent studies, pizza delivery is one of the most dangerous occupations. This is due to its high amount of time on the road, long hours, usually at night, and the stranger danger from showing up at random customer homes. It ranked 5th on the list of most dangerous jobs, behind timber cutters, fishers, pilots and navigators, and finally, structural metal workers...
Life on the Road
According to the same statistical study, 38 of every 100,000 delivery drivers will die from a fatal car accident. Sadly, 25 percent of drivers perished in robberies and assault-related fatalities. They are often reported as “driver-sales” workers, so these statistics could include anything from pizza delivery to food biker apps to truck drivers, so there are many at risk for these accidents...