Digital Culture

Woman saved from hostage situation after leaving plea for help on GrubHub order

"Call the police...please don't make it obvious."
By Matt Binder  on 
GrubHub
A GrubHub order led to the rescue of a woman being held hostage. Credit: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Employees at the Chipper Truck Cafe in Yonkers, New York received an odd delivery order through GrubHub on Sunday. And that order led to the rescue of a woman who was being held hostage in the Bronx.

The order looked normal at first. But, along with an Irish breakfast sandwich and a hamburger, there was a note left by a customer through the online food ordering and delivery service that's popular in the city.

"Please call the police his going to call me when u delivered come with the cones please don't make it obvious," the note read, left in the "additional instructions" section of the GrubHub order. 

Usually, those additional instructions provide the establishment with custom details for an order or delivery drivers with specific information on where to leave the food. This one was asking for the restaurant to send help.

The workers called the owner of the restaurant and made them aware of the situation before calling 911. The GrubHub order was placed at 5 am ET, according to a Facebook post by the Chipper Truck Cafe. Police arrived at the location and a 24-year-old woman was saved from the apartment she was being held in about an hour after the GrubHub order was placed. NBC News reports. The woman met Royal online and was taken captive after the two met for a date.

According to NBC News, the police arrested 32-year-old Kemoy Royal on charges of "rape, strangulation, criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment, menacing, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and sexual abuse." Royal was also charged with "attempted rape, sexual abuse and assault" of another woman.

"Every time we see a simple but extraordinary act like this, we are amazed by how our partners positively impact their communities," GrubHub said in a statement provided to Mashable.

GrubHub tells Mashable that company COO Eric Ferguson reached out to Chipper Truck Cafe on Thursday morning and offered $5,000 to the restaurant as a way to recognize them for their quick thinking.


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