GOOD: Pizza Shop Owner - 1, Thug - 0: Akron, OH

[CT-Mike]

Ohio.com - UPDATE: Pizza shop owner describes robbery, shooting

John Hayes wants only to sell pizzas, not shoot robbers.

But the day after his West Akron pizza parlor was held up and he shot and killed the shotgun-armed robber, Hayes remains concerned about his business, his life and the health of his six workers.

He wants the public to know why he opened fire: He didn't want to be killed, like other robbery victims around the city. He wants only to sell pizzas.

''I'm devastated,'' he said inside Your Pizza Shop, the West Exchange Street parlor he purchased two months ago. ''It's an unbelievable situation I've been put into because of some person's carelessness and thoughtlessness.

''I'm in fear of my life, my employees' lives and the lives of everybody I know.''

Hayes, 37, was behind the counter Tuesday night when 20-year-old Patrick Finney, wearing an orange ski mask, walked in and pointed a sawed-off shotgun at his head just before 8 p.m.

A customer, an older woman from the neighborhood, was seated at the counter watching the Cavaliers game while waiting for a stromboli.

''He said, 'Give me the [expletive] money. This is an [expletive] robbery,'' Hayes said.

Hayes cooperated, giving the robber a stack of $10 bills. The robber wanted more and pointed the shotgun within inches of Hayes' head, he said.

''As soon as I gave him the money, I pulled my gun out from my hip, pointed it and fired four shots,'' Hayes said.

Finney fell to the floor, then stood back up. Hayes fired three more shots from his Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol. Finney staggered outside and collapsed across the street. The cash he sought was dropped outside.

Hayes then called 911.

''I just got robbed at my pizza shop, 1077 West Exchange Street,'' Hayes says on the recording released by Akron police.

''OK, what kind. . . .does he have a weapon?'' a dispatcher asks.

''He had a weapon, a gun. I shot him. He's across the street laying down right now,'' Hayes says.

''You shot him?'' the dispatcher replies in a startled voice.

''I shot him right in front of me while he was holding a gun on me,'' Hayes replies.

Finney was taken to Akron General Medical Center. He died within the hour. An autopsy on Wednesday showed he was shot multiple times in the torso. The death has been ruled a homicide.

Akron police are investigating the shooting, but there is no indication that Hayes, who has been questioned by investigators, acted unlawfully. It was the fourth robbery at the shop since 2007.

Police Lt. Rick Edwards said Finney had no felony convictions, but he had been arrested in 2008 and charged with marijuana drug abuse. Finney failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Finney's mother, Patricia, lives six blocks south of Buchtel High School on Winton Avenue, but a neighbor said that Patrick Finney had lived with his grandmother until she died a few years ago. Efforts to reach other family members for comment were unsuccessful.

An acquaintance of Finney, Kenneth Amos, 20, of Akron, was arrested after the shooting and charged with tampering with evidence. He had items that belonged to Finney, Edwards said. Police would not say whether the items were connected to the robbery.

Hayes said the neighborhood reaction to the shooting has been troubling. A woman stood outside his shop taking pictures, for no apparent reason. Others have called and hung up. Business was slow Wednesday afternoon.

His delivery drivers are concerned about retaliation.

He said he carries a weapon, with a concealed carry permit and regular shooting practice, to avoid being a victim. He cited the recent case of the North Hill man shot in a carjacking as reason for his fear of being shot during a robbery.

''People don't care. They take $100 and don't give a [expletive]. They don't want to be identified and so they kill you,'' he said. ''I'm not going to be killed for $100.''

Residents and business owners believe the neighborhood remains safe, despite the robbery.

Scott Sella has been the lead designer for two years and owner since January of the Every Blooming Thing flower and gift shop in the Houston Building.

''I'm not considering moving,'' he said. ''This has been a very good location for the shop in the 18 years that it's been here and I really like it.''

Resident Dave Mariani said he's owned his house on Burton Avenue just off West Exchange Street since 1973, and this is the first time something of this nature has happened in this part of the neighborhood.

Mariani said his family had just returned to its two-story home about 10 minutes before the shooting.

''I thought I heard something and my dogs started barking,'' Mariani said. ''I heard a bang, but didn't think much of it because one of the neighbors had been working on his fence. I didn't realize it was a bullet that had been shot.''

Mariani said his 9-year-old daughter alerted him a few minutes later to the fact that several police cars were at the pizza shop.

And he saw Finney lying in a heap on Amelia Avenue.

''He tried to run, but he only got a block and then he fell,'' Mariani said. ''I didn't let my daughters go down there because it would have been too traumatic.''

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[jfl]

It would be a good story except for that part:"Finney was taken to Akron General Medical Center. He died within the hour. An autopsy on Wednesday showed he was shot multiple times in the torso. The death has been ruled a homicide. "
Further down it says it was OK (justifiable homicide) but still in the mind of uninformed reader, it looks wrong.
Count on the media for biased reporting

[CT-Mike]

Mods,

This thread is a print version of a thread already running with a video interview:

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...ng-good-2.html

Maybe you can merge the threads?

[retsupt99]

Another dirtbag who won't be robbing anyone else...

Instant justice...little taxpayer expense...no repeat offender!
We have a trifecta here.

[buckeye .45]

It would be a good story except for that part:"Finney was taken to Akron General Medical Center. He died within the hour. An autopsy on Wednesday showed he was shot multiple times in the torso. The death has been ruled a homicide. "
Further down it says it was OK (justifiable homicide) but still in the mind of uninformed reader, it looks wrong.
Count on the media for biased reporting

Well, in all fairness, pretty much anytime there is a body, that isn't dead of natural causes, its a homicide. There are negligent homicides, criminal homicides, justifiable homicides, ect... So it really was a homicide.

Good for the shop owner though, hope he and his business make it through ok.

[XDFender]

Homicide means nothing more than the killing of a human being. It has not moral connotation. Every time a cop, soldier, or regular person kills another person, whether justifiably or not, it is a "homicide."

Nonetheless, it is likely that the reporter, knowing full-well that most people will associate a negative connotation with the term, used it for that very purpose...

[PNUT]

I hope that the pizza guy and his business don't suffer for this. Dirtbag deserved what he got, no chance to kill an innocent down the line.