Grand Jury Indicts Pizza Shop Bandit

The man who allegedly robbed a Pawtucket Avenue pizza shop in East Providence at gunpoint last November has been indicted by a Providence County Grand Jury.

Justin Thomas, 26, with a last known address of 180 Beechwood Ave., was indicted in a report released last Friday, Feb. 22, on seven counts of first-degree robbery, use of a firearm with committing a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license, three counts of assault with a dangerour weapong, larceny over $1,500, resisting arrest, and reckless driving.

The grand jury indictment alleges that on Nov. 24, 2012, Thomas followed a pizza delivery driver into the rear door of Domino’s Pizza. He allegedly pulled out a .32 caliber revolver and ordered everyone in the store into a freezer.

Thomas then allegedly demanded money from all the victims, as well as ordered one employee to clean out the cash from the register.

A customer who walked into the shop during the alleged robbery contacted the East Providence police because he became suspicious when he found no one in the store.

East Providence police officers responded within minutes. When the patrol officers arrived at the store, Thomas allegedly ran out the back door and led police on a chase in that neighborhood that included him jumping into an empty police vehicle and trying to flee. He allegedly crashed that police car into another police vehicle before being apprehended a few minutes later.

Thomas is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI). He will be arraigned in Providence County Superior Court on Friday, March 1, before Superior Court Justice Robert D. Krause, according to the grand jury.