Joey Grundl, 24, was dropping off a pizza in Waldo, Wisconsin, when he said he noticed a woman in distress inside the home on Sept. 27.
A Wisconsin pizza delivery driver has been hailed a hero after alerting police to a woman in danger and thwarting a possible kidnapping, officials said.
Joey Grundl, 24, was dropping off a pizza in Waldo on Sept. 27 when he said he noticed a woman in distress inside the home.
“I could see a black eye on her right eye and that's when she pointed to it and mouthed the words to me, 'Help me,' and shortly thereafter mouthed again to me, 'Call the police,'" he told WDJT-TV.
Grundl went back to his car and called 911 to report what he had seen.
Deputies with the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s office visited the home, where they arrested Dean Hoffman for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend and holding the woman against her will.
Hoffman is accused of entering his ex’s home without knocking and then punching her in the face, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WDJT-TV.
He then allegedly bound her hands and her feet, “hog-tying them together with a power cord from her vacuum,” the complaint said.
After allegedly tying her up, police said Hoffman shoved a towel in his ex-girlfriend’s mouth and forced her to scream to ensure no one would be able to hear her.
The woman told police Hoffman untied her before ordering pizza from Domino’s.
The woman said she asked Hoffman to let her go, but he allegedly said, “You know I can’t do that,” so she took the opportunity to ask the delivery man for help, police said.
“I don’t really expect anything; I just kind of show up and kind of leave,” Grundl said of a usual pizza delivery. "So sometimes it's best to just pay attention to what's going on. You never know when someone maybe is trying to give you a little hint there."
Hoffman was charged with seven counts of domestic abuse, including strangulation, and kidnapping. He also allegedly admitted to police he had a gun in his car.
He remained in custody at the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s office Tuesday, online records show.
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