Rockford, Illinois



From a trade publication called PizzaMarketplace.com:

In Rockford, Ill., an attempted armed robbery of Vinny’s Pizza ended quickly when co-owner Lia Mercuri fired warning shots near two men who'd stormed through the shop's back door on Nov. 17.



Mercuri's brother and Vinny's co-owner, Mario Cassola, told the Rockford Star one man entered the pizzeria and attacked him with a hammer, while second man, carrying a rifle, followed him in.



Despite receiving multiple blows from the hammer, Cassola fought with the first man while Mercuri pulled out a gun kept at the shop and started to shoot.



"I was angry and I wanted to scare them away, so I shot into the air and hit the wall and by the door," Mercuri said.



Both men fled.



A short time later, a Rockford Park District patrol officer stopped a vehicle with two men inside. Both a hammer and a rifle were recovered from the scene of the arrest of Michael J. Buck, 18, and Vaughn V. Gulley, 23, both of Rockford.