No one ever wants to be in a dangerous situation, especially being held hostage. But this woman kept her cool using what she had available, the Grub Hub App, to save herself from a potentially life-or-death situation.
It can take a lot of people and organizations with the proper training to successfully resolve a kidnapping. Law enforcement, governments, crisis response groups, and the hostage’s workplace are a few examples.
However, in this case, a woman who had been held hostage for days placed a clever Grub Hub order in the hopes of alerting rescuers.
It was just another day and another order for the employees at Yonkers’ Chipper Truck Café, so they went about their business as usual. But the staff at the mobile restaurant just north of Manhattan were perplexed and frankly alarmed by this particular customer’s unusual request.
A request that would save a life.
The order was made for a breakfast sandwich and burger at five in the morning. The order, however, had a strange add-on: the police.
Alice Bermejo, the restaurant’s owner, was unsure of what was going on. However, she did take the note seriously. Picking up the phone she made the call for assistance. The restaurant owner and her staff were soon made aware that there was a problem with the person who placed the order on the Grub Hub app.
“Please call the police,” the note said, “his going to call me when u delivered come with the cone please don’t make it obvious.”
When one of the staff members called Bermejo’s husband and business partner. Bermejo’s spouse informed her of the order.
When the order appeared on the screen, the employee was asking Bermejo how they should respond.
Bermejo made the right call by complying with the customer’s request.
“He was like, ‘Call the police. Can’t take any risks. Better safe than sorry,'” Bermejo said.
The victim was a 24-year-old woman. The woman said she was being held against her will in an apartment in the Bronx. She met her captor online. The incident happened after meeting in person for the first time.
She claimed that the man sexually assaulted her, he also took away her phone and only allowed her to have it whenever she ordered food.
The suspect, 32-year-old Kemoy Royal, was detained by police after they were called. Police claimed that in addition to other charges, Royal was charged with rape, unlawful confinement, strangling, criminal possession of a weapon, and sexual abuse.
Both the victim and Bermejo were uncertain about their actions. The victim worried whether the restaurant would take their requests seriously, while Bermejo didn’t know if it was all just a prank.
But in the end, the right decision was made.
“We really had no idea of the gravity of the situation until after everything had happened,” Bermejo said
Bermejo said she later received a phone call from a friend of the victim, thanking the restaurant for helping her. “We really had no idea of the gravity of the situation until after everything had happened,” said Bermejo.
Meanwhile, Grubhub decided to recognize this act of kindness and concern.
To honor the quick thinking of the owner and employee, Grubhub Chief Operating Officer Eric Ferguson contacted Bermejo and offered her $5,000 to invest in her company, according to Lisa Belot, the firm’s director of public relations.
“Every time we see a simple but extraordinary act like this, we are amazed by how our partners positively impact their communities,” Belot said. “From drivers delivering in difficult weather to our corporate employees volunteering at food banks to these restaurant employees in Yonkers who recognized a serious situation and acted quickly, we’re grateful and humbled that Grubhub can be a part of such incredible stories of kindness and heroism.”
Watch the video report below:
Sources: Awm, Irishexaminer, Fox11online
