Copied under fair use, as newspapers tend to move stories to their archives.
Robbery victim was well-liked
Pizzeria worker enjoyed nighttime job despite risks
By Amanda Iacone
The Journal Gazette
Brunson
The father of a Fort Wayne man shot and killed during a robbery Sunday morning had worried about his son’s safety working late nights at a pizza shop and had tried to persuade him to change jobs.
Chad D. Brunson, 23, worked nine years for Tasty Pizza, 4302 Fairfield Ave., and foiled at least one robbery during that time, his father Daniel Brunson said by phone Monday.
But a robbery at the pizzeria Sunday turned violent, and Chad Brunson was shot. Medics pronounced him dead inside the shop, and the Allen County Coroner’s Office said he died of a gunshot wound or wounds to the head. His death was ruled a homicide. Police are investigating whether the same men are responsible for other robberies in the city.
Store owner and family friend Rick Harkelroad called the shooting his worst nightmare.
And Daniel Brunson said it’s something that never should have happened.
“I can’t believe people need money that bad to rob a place for a couple of dollars,” he said. And he doesn’t understand why they would place someone’s life in danger or risk going to prison.
Harkelroad gave Brunson a job as a teen. But since then, Daniel Brunson had tried to persuade his son to take a factory job or work somewhere else. He could have earned more money and would have worked without the risk of being robbed, Daniel Brunson said.
Chad Brunson was happy working at the store, though, and he didn’t care about a bigger paycheck, his father said.
Through his job Chad Brunson met many people who in turn loved him for his generosity, his straightforward demeanor and the way he treated everyone fairly, his father said.
His family has heard from people they never met who knew Brunson from buying their pizzas at Tasty Pizza. Neighbors who live across the street, a woman who works at a local CVS/Pharmacy and others have expressed how much they liked Chad Brunson, his father said.
“The fact that a lot of people loved him … that’s a trait in life I couldn’t ask for anything better out of a son,” he said.
Brunson played football during his years at Holy Cross Lutheran School. He went on to attend South Side High School. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing and collecting items such as coins, lighters and baseball cards, his father said.
He didn’t smile a lot in pictures because he knew his family wanted him to. And he wasn’t a man to give hugs or say “I love you.” But he showed his family affection in other ways, Daniel Brunson said.
Eventually Brunson became an assistant manager at the shop and worked late nights. The risk to his son’s safety bothered Daniel Brunson despite his son’s 6-foot-3 stature and lean, muscular build. His son was aware of the risks but didn’t talk about it, he said.
Chad Brunson was licensed to carry to a handgun. He was armed the night a robber with a BB gun tried to demand money from the store in April. Brunson smiled, showed his gun and asked whether the robber really wanted to do that, Daniel Brunson recalled, an account that matches a Fort Wayne police report of the robbery.
The police report said Chad Brunson had a Colt .45 in a holster underneath his shirt.
His boss told him not to carry his gun to work after that, Daniel Brunson said.
Police have not said what happened during Sunday’s robbery that could have led to the shooting. No arrests have been made, and an investigation continues.
Investigators are looking into whether the two robbers might be behind other recent robberies. The north side of the city has experienced a number of robberies involving two armed suspects similar in description to the two involved with the pizza shop robbery and shooting, said Paul Shrawder, detective bureau captain.
A similar pair robbed a BP gas station along Goshen Road on Saturday morning, he said.
But the southwest and southeast sections of the city have been hit lately with robberies of pizza delivery drivers, which involve a different method than what happened inside the pizza shop, Shrawder said Monday.
Last week, police arrested a man in connection with robbing a pizza delivery driver in the Pointe Inverness apartment complex. Brian Capps, 43, of the 6800 block of Covington Creek Trail, was charged with robbing a Papa John’s employee Dec. 18, police said. Police ask anyone with information about the Tasty Pizza robbery and Chad Brunson’s slaying to call Crime Stoppers at 436-7867 or police at 427-1222.
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Sounds like about as good of a test case as we're ever going to find for disarmament liability.
, a victory here would make the law a nullity once money enters the equation for doing business.