Food

Pro Tip: If You Rob a Dunkin Donuts, Don't Take an Uber Home

This is not the first time a robbery suspect has opened the Uber app and ordered an on-demand getaway vehicle, but it's never a good idea.
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On Monday, Dunkin Donuts announced that it is partnering with Grubhub to expand its Dunkin Delivers service to include more than 400 Dunkin locations scattered throughout all five New York City boroughs. So as of this morning, any New Yorker who’s desperate for a Toasted Almond Iced Coffee or a dozen glazed Munchkins or whatever can have their order delivered through Grubhub or Seamless, eliminating the need for anyone to ever walk through midtown carrying their own Toasted Almond Ice Coffee.

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Some people still want that in-store experience, though, especially if they’re just running in to rob the place. According to NBC New York, Andrew Sandson allegedly went to a Dunkin Donuts in Long Island on Sunday night and gave an employee a note that said he was carrying a gun and wanted some cash from the register. The Dunkin worker followed those instructions, and handed Sandston the money.

That employee somehow managed to not freak out until he or she wrote down the license plate on Sandson’s getaway car, which helped the Suffolk County Police Department track the 57-year-old down and arrest him. Well, it was that license plate, and the fact that he used an Uber to take him home.

Officers were able to connect the plate number to an unnamed Uber driver, who was able to provide the details from Sandson’s ride; this criminal mastermind lives on a dead-end residential street that’s just about a mile from the Dunkin he allegedly robbed. The cops say that the Uber driver was not involved in the incident. (VICE has reached out to Uber for comment.)

Absolutely no one will be surprised to learn that this isn’t the first time a robbery suspect has opened the Uber app and ordered an on-demand getaway vehicle. In February, three teenagers were arrested in Oklahoma City after they took an Uber to the bank they planned to hold up. The driver called the police after hearing one of them say he had a gun and was going to “pop someone.” (They’d also arranged for an Uber to pick them up after the crime, but the cops had already handcuffed them by the time the second car arrived. “If you're going to do something like that, have your own car,” driver Brandon Case told KFOR.)

Earlier this month, a man live-streamed himself as he stole a doughnut and a bottled drink from a Dunkin Donuts in South Brunswick, New Jersey, and he kept recording as he walked through the restaurant, past several tables’ worth of sure-to-be confused customers. (He also danced briefly on the restaurant’s counter, which is honestly the third- or fourth-worst offense he committed that night.) “Wanted—Donut Desperado,” the South Brunswick cops tweeted after the robbery. “On June 1st at 8:28pm this actor jumped the counter at @dunkindonuts on George's Rd took a donut while live streaming. This is 2nd incident.” As of this writing, the guy has not been apprehended.

I mean, we’re not saying that maybe people should put their phones down and stick to analog crime, but maybe people should put their phones down and stick to analog crime.