Food delivery apps are a convenient way to get a tasty snack, but one Florida mother found another use for them – calling for help in a potentially dangerous situation.
According to a press release from Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, Cheryl Treadway and her three children were being held hostage by her knife-wielding boyfriend,?Ethan Earl Nickerson. Because she was restricted from making calls or sending text by Nickerson, Treadway decided to go the discreet route and send a message through the Pizza Hut app.
A exert from the press release states:
When Ms. Treadway attempted to leave the residence to pick up the children from school, Mr. Nickerson grabbed her and took her cell phone. He then accompanied Ms. Treadway to pick up the children. Upon returning home, Ms. Treadway eventually convinced Mr. Nickerson to let her use the cell phone to order a pizza which is when she sent the message to Pizza Hut. Immediately after the pizza order was placed, Mr. Nickerson took the cell phone back from her.
Treadway wrote “Please help. Get 911 to me” in the additional notes box on the form for her order of a large pepperoni pizza. Alarmed by the strange plea from a regular customer, Pizza Hut employees alerted the sheriff’s office. When police arrived on the scene, Nickerson surrendered and Treadway and her children were released unharmed.
Store manager Candy Hamilton told local television station WFLA:
We’ve never seen that before. I’ve been here 28 years and never, never seen nothing like that come through.
Chief Deputy Mark Schrader had this to say:
I don’t know if I ever would have thought of it. I mean it’s just something that she did so naturally. The boyfriend never knew about it until he saw us coming around the corner. It’s moments like these in law enforcement that you get to help people actually that makes you feel good.
