A woman placed an order for a breakfast sandwich and a burger at five in the morning, with an add-on requesting immediate delivery. The customer included a note on the order slip stating that she was being held captive by a man and needed police assistance. Fortunately, the Grub Hub order notified the appropriate people, who were able to assist the lady in avoiding being murdered by her abductor.
The delivery order came to the Chipper Truck Café employees in Yonkers, New York, a town north of Manhattan and the Bronx, perplexed. They were also concerned that the woman who placed the early-morning order may be in serious trouble.
The owner of the restaurant, Alice Bermejo, was unaware of how to respond to the order maker’s request for law enforcement. She did eventually take the note seriously and called for assistance as directed, though. The “hastily written note” in the add-on section alerted the restaurant owner and her staff that something was wrong with the customer who made a Grub Hub order for delivery.
The employee who discovered the warning phoned Bermejo and informed her that she had to call the cops to protect the potential victim.
“He was like, ‘Call the police. Can’t take any risks. Better safe than sorry,’” Bermejo said.
The following message was included in the additional instructions section intended for the Grub Hub delivery driver.
“Please call the police his going to call me when you deliver come with the cones please and don’t make it obvious,” the note said. The woman’s note had some spelling and grammar errors, but the message was clear that she needed help from the restaurant.
The victim reported that the man sexually assaulted her and held her against her will, keeping her phone away from her except when she needed to order food.
Thankfully, Bermejo and her staff reviewed the order carefully. They then called the cops as requested which led to the sexual predator being caught and stopped from hurting his victim again.
The man who kept the woman captive will be charged with “rape, unlawful imprisonment, strangulation, criminal possession of a weapon, and sexual abuse, among other counts.”
The victim, aged 24, was kept in the Bronx and was liberated when police showed up to the location.
“We really had no idea of the gravity of the situation until after everything had happened,” Bermejo said.
Bermejo was praised by the victim’s friend for saving a woman from becoming a Bronx man’s sex slave, and Grub Hub gave her company $5,000 as thanks for rescuing a woman from life as a male prostitute.
“Every time we see a simple but extraordinary act like this, we are amazed by how our partners positively impact their communities,” said Lisa Belot, director of public relations at Grub Hub. “From drivers delivering in difficult weather to our corporate employees volunteering at food banks to these restaurant employees in Yonkers who recognized a serious situation and acted quickly, we’re grateful and humbled that Grubhub can be a part of such incredible stories of kindness and heroism.”
