Joey Grundl, a driver for Domino’s Pizza in Waldo, Wisconsin, helped save a woman after she was kidnapped by her abusive ex-boyfriend – according to police.
The 55-year-old ex-boyfriend, Dean Hoffman, has since been charged with multiple counts of domestic abuse after he entered his ex-girlfriend’s house uninvited where he allegedly beat her up and tied her up.
But his capture would not have been possible if it weren’t for Joey who noticed a woman inside the house mouthing the words “help me.”
“It’s kind of scary,” Joey Grundl, the driver shared. “Gave him his pizza, and noticed behind him was his girlfriend. She pointed to a black eye that was quite visible. She mouthed the words ‘call police.'”
The 57-year-old woman started dating Hoffmann in 2016 and they lived together until August of 2018 according to a criminal complaint. The woman then moved to a house near 2nd and Lydon after the two broke things off.
According to investigators, Hoffman entered the woman’s home without knocking or her permission around 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27. The woman then told Hoffman to leave, grabbing her phone to call the police. But as she picked up her phone, Hoffmann ripped it out of her hands allegedly, grabbed her by the waist and dragged her toward steps that led upstairs.
It was then said that Hoffmann shoved the woman, which led her to fall back on the steps — then he pulled her hair, ripped off her shirt and attempted to drag her up the stairs. The woman then hit Hoffmann in the groin in an attempt to escape but Hoffman punched her in the face, giving her the black eye and a bloody nose.
Hoffmann then made the woman go onto her bed, bound her hands and feet with a power cord from her vacuum and shoved a towel in her mouth to make sure “nobody would be able to hear her.” The woman said to investigators how she was afraid she was going to die as she had trouble breathing.
A half hour passed and then, Hoffmann untied her. But it didn’t stop there. Over the course of several hours, he would not allow her to leave the house. She told Hoffmann several times, “If you love me, you will let me go” to which Hoffmann replied, “you know I can’t do that.”
The woman shared that Hoffmann bragged how he “should have brought his gun in from the car so that he could shoot both of them.” Hoffmann then used the woman’s phone to text her children, telling them she was sick and not to come over for a few days — posing as the victim.
But a choice to order Domino’s Pizza was what save the woman’s life. Joey called 911 after seeing the woman mouth “help me” Joey told the operator:
“I had a delivery. It was a middle-aged couple. The woman clearly had a black eye. She pointed to it, and I swear she mouthed ‘help me.'”
Hoffmann was arrested by police.
The woman said she “truly believed [he] was going to kill her that night.”
Neighbor Amy Hammarlund said, “I’m grateful (the delivery driver) was paying attention because it could have been a lot worse,”
Thanks to Joey’s quick thinking, the woman is now safe and in stable condition.
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