Employee shot at 42nd St. pizzeria

An restaurant employee was shot in the arm during a robbery attempt by two men at a pizzeria at 42nd and Baltimore Avenue Saturday night, according to University Police. Plainclothes University Police officers David McDonald and Al Sulpizio were patrolling Baltimore Avenue in an unmarked car at about 10:30 p.m. when they observed two men acting suspiciously at the Royal Pizza Shop, Lieutenant Susan Holmes said last night. She said that as the officers approached the restaurant, they observed the men run out of the store with employees running behind them. McDonald ran after one of the men towards nearby Clark Park, where he arrested him and charged him with robbery, Holmes said. As Sulpizio was inspecting the scene of the crime, he saw the second suspect hiding behind a getaway car, Holmes said. When the suspect saw Sulpizio, he fled the scene, chased by the officer. The suspect later escaped among nearby houses. When the officers returned to the shop, they found two loaded guns under the suspects' car -- a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a 32-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver. Police also found a bag of cash in the car, Holmes said. She said police ballistics experts identified the 9mm gun as having been used in an unrelated homocide. She could not give any more detailed information about the murder. In a separate and unrelated incident, a Escort Service Van was involved in an accident with another vehicle Saturday. According to University Police reports, the escort van was struck from behind by a car on the 4200 block of Walnut Street. Holmes said there were two University student passengers in the van during the accident, but there were no injuries. In another separate and unrelated incident, a strongarm robbery was reported by a flower vendor on 38th and Chestnut streets yesterday. The vendor, who reported the crime at 10:10 a.m., said he had been robbed of $17 by a man who drove off in a brown Ford. In another unrelated incident, University Police responded to a report of a fight in the Christian Association building late Saturday morning, but the combatants had left when the police arrived.

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