Published January 12, 2006 in issue 0502 of the Hook

I found two assertions [December 22: "Purloined Pies: Prank or Delivery Threat"] concerning.

Eugene Williams states that Domino's and Papa John's decision not to deliver to unsafe areas was motivated by "obvious racism."

I worked for Ray Sellers and Tom Hutton, the owners of Domino's Pizza in Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley for six years. I never knew either to make a decision based on the racial make up of their customers.

Like most business owners, they would not alienate their potential customers in this way. They never exhibited any views or engaged in any action that could be considered racist. In fact, I have known them to terminate business relationships with people who did exhibit racist tendencies.

The second point is even more serious. Mr. Williams calls the robbery "a bad prank." According to the quoted police report, "Seven or eight young black males appeared from behind the bushes. One pushed the driver. Then they grabbed the pizzas and ran into Blue Ridge Commons."

These young men conspired and assaulted a delivery driver. One young man battered a driver, and at least one young man stole $40 worth of merchandise.

This was no "prank"; this was a series of premeditated crimes. Most disturbing is Mr. Williams' assertion that being a victim of violent crime is part of the driver's job. No segment of our society, including law enforcement, has an expectation of being a victim of violent crime every day on the job.

According to your article, Williams is a "long-time civil rights activist." As such, he must have some reputation and influence in your community. Yet, instead of using his position to decry this violent crime, he is actually enabling future criminals.

I applaud both companies for making a business decision based on the safety of their employees.

Jason Clarke
Staunton

#