Pizza Delivery Driver Shoots Robbers

Irmo, South Carolina

From March 8, 2009 WSPA channel 7:

Irmo - A suspected robber is dead after officials say a pizza man shot him in during the robbery.

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts says Saturday night, four men ordered pizza to a house on Avery Place Lane with the intent of robbing whomever delivered it. None of the four lived there and officials say the homeowner did not realize his home was being used for a robbery.

Pizza Hut delivery man, 43-year-old Christopher Miller, says he showed up at the home at 10:30 p.m. and 17-year-old Paul Sturgill was standing on the sidewalk waiting for him. Officials say soon after Miller got out of the car, two other men ran at him from the woods.

When Miller started running away, that’s when authorities say Sturgill continually tried beating him in the face. Miller, who has a concealed weapons permit, says he pulled out .45 caliber handgun that he had in his fanny pack and shot Sturgill in his chest.

Sturgill was taken to the hospital where he later died.

The three other suspects ran and officials are still looking for one of the men.

He’s 18-year-old Justin Roundtree. Metts says he’s wanted for robbery and criminal conspiracy. Roundtree is a member of a criminal gang and is 5-foot-5 and weighs 160 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.

Also in the March 8, 2009 South Carolina State:

An Irmo pizza delivery man ambushed by a group of young men shot and killed one of his assailants, an Irmo High School senior, late Saturday, causing the others to flee, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said this afternoon.

Alleged robber Paul Andrew Sturgill Jr., 17, of Kenna Drive near Irmo, was pronounced dead of at least one gunshot wound later at Palmetto Health Richland Hospital, Sheriff James Metts said. An autopsy will be performed Monday.

Relatives and neighbors expressed shock over the death of Sturgill, whom they said had been an honor student and musician. His family said he planned to join the Army, with a goal of becoming an airborne ranger, after graduating from Irmo High School this year.

The family showed photos of a tall, slender, clean-cut young man.

The pizza delivery man, Christopher Steven Miller, 43, had a concealed weapons permit and was trying to retreat from the suspects while being beaten by one attacker, Metts said.

At this point, Metts said, it appears that Miller acted within the law and will not face any charges. However, police have made no final decisions and will discuss the incident with prosecutors, he said.

One of the suspected robbers, Justin Towan Roundtree, 18, of Emery Lane near Irmo, left the scene but turned himself in around 9:15 p.m. tonight, the sheriff's department said. He is charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy. Roundtree is suspected of having a connection to a gang, Metts said. Metts did not have details.

The dead youth, Sturgill, supposedly had a good reputation and people whom detectives are interviewing are surprised that he might have been involved in a robbery, Metts said.

Metts said the incident happened about 10:30 p.m. on Avery Place Lane near Irmo, near Irmo High School off St. Andrews Road. An order had been called in to Pizza Hut on Irmo Drive for two large, thin-crust pizzas with extra cheese for delivery to a house on Avery Lane. However, when Miller showed up with the pizzas, he was met by a young man outside the house to whom he was delivering the pizza, Miller told detectives.

In fact, Metts said, the suspects had called the order in on a cell phone. The people who lived in the house had no knowledge of the pizza request, Metts said.