Pizza Bomber

By Kayla Rieck

Transcript:

[Woman 1]: 911, what’s your emergency?

[Woman 2]: We’ve been robbed.

[Woman 1]: Okay, stay on the line.

[Woman 2]: Okay.

[Woman 1]: Is anyone hurt?

[Woman 2]: No.

[Police Siren droning on]

You’re listening to Hurstories. A podcast about Western Pennsylvanian history. Created by the digital history students at Mercyhurst University.

Hello everyone, my name is Kayla Rieck and you are listening an episode of Hurstories – a podcast created by Mercyhurst students – and today you will be listening to one of the weirdest things to happen to Erie. This is the story of Brian Wells, more famously known as the Pizza Bomber.

August 28th, 2003 – Brian Wells is killed.

Part one: The phone call.

At roughly 1:30pm, Mamma Mia’s receives a phone call. The owner, Mr. Tony Ditomo, first picked up the call, but couldn’t understand who was talking, so he handed the phone to Brian Well who proceeded to write his own directions. Two sausage and pepperoni pizzas were to be delivered to 8631 Peach Street, the location of a WSEE-TV transmitting tower as the end of a long, dirt road. Upon arriving to the address, there was a struggle, and by the time Wells left the premises he had a live bomb collared around his neck. Wells received 9 pages of hand-written, rambling instructions and a cane adapted to be a loaded shotgun (instructions included of course). While Wells claimed it was a group of black men that jumped him and forced him to complete these tasks, interviews by law enforcement had Floyd Stockton sweating, claiming to be the one who strapped the bomb to Wells. To this day, these details are still very muddy, and no one really knows who put this collar on Wells.

Part two: The Scavenger hunt.

“Bomb Hostage, you are to go to PNC bank at Summit Town Centre on Peach St. Quietly give the following demand notes to a receptionist or bank manager. Do not cause alarm. Get retired money and deliver to a specified location by following notes that you will collect as you race against time. Each note leads to the next note and key until finished. You will collect several keys and a combination to remove bomb. After, police won’t charge you because you were a hostage.”[1]

This is the beginning paragraph of the crudely written instructions Wells was given by a group calling themselves The Troubleshooters commanding him to rob a bank, the PNC bank on Peach street to be specific. They were mapped out in a scavenger hunt style, listing strictly timed tasks that would help him collect keys that would delay the bomb’s detonation until he found the final key which would defuse the bomb. He was told he only had 55 minutes until detonation. With 25 minutes travel time, he had a safety margin of less than 10 minutes, the remaining time, 20 minutes, were to be used to “retrieve and obey their instructions.” Additional time could be gained by finding keys, but he isn’t told how much. To ensure Wells was following their instructions the writer made him aware that they would be following his moves in 3 cars to make sure he obeyed their requests. They would be scanning police radio frequencies, calls, and driving around to make sure they stayed away. If Wells alerted the police to what happened, they told him plain and simple: “you will be destroyed”.

“You must deliver money alone. You must return all weapons/notes to us. Turn yourself in to bank and police after we release you to safety,” and in all capital letters at the end of the first page, “ACT NOW, THINK LATER OR YOU WILL DIE!”

 

Part 3: PROCEED NOW.

With notes to give to the receptionist, bank manager, and the police in hand as well as instructions for each stop of this gross goose chase, Wells enters the bank. His first instructions read as follows:

“1) take the following demands to PNC bank and get $250,00.00. Instruct bank managers to help or else everyone will be killed. Enforce demands with your weapon and bomb. 2) Put $250,00.00 in black garbage bag. Leave your driver’s license at the bank and promise to return. Then return money to us by following a course of instructions. You will receive further instructions as you proceed.”

Brian entered the bank around 2:30pm, following his instructions, he stood in line for a second before he decided to go around to give the teller the demand note. The teller’s face most likely drained of color as she read her instructions, meanwhile Wells was calmly reaching into the basket of lollipops on the counter:

“RECEPTIONIST. Do not cause panic or many people will be killed. Sounding any alarm will interrupt this action and guarantee injuries and death. Involving authorities at this point will get this hostage and other people killed. Immediately, without causing alarm, you must contact the bank manager. The bomb hostage must accompany you. Give manager the following demands.”

After this there is a paragraph explaining the bomb and Wells’ instructions, reminding them that no money meant he gets no keys. The bank manager is told to: 1) ensure all people are remaining quiet and calm, and to prevent anyone from using outside contact, especially to the police, 2) close the bank with all people remaining inside, and 3) act fast or the hostage’s time will run out and that the bomb may detonated if the police are seen. The writer goes on to describe what will happen if they are met with resistance. They will not only detonate the bomb, but there will also be further means of retaliation.

From here, the manger is given two options - just in case they don’t have $250,000.00 laying around. Plan A is $150,000.00, 50s and 20s only but 50s are preferred. This plan only prevents the bomb to save the hostage, but it does not prevent retaliation. Plan B, which is weirdly the actual demand, $250,000.00 with a limit of $100k in 100s to be accepted. This would prevent both the bomb detonating and the retaliation, this plan, in their words, “guarantees everyone’s safety”.

The bank manager, unable to open the safe during this time crunch, was only able to give Wells what was in the drawers which added up to roughly $8,000 – a miniscule amount compared to what The Troubleshooters were asking. A witness reported that Wells “walked out of the bank like Charlie Chaplin, swinging the bag and cane gun” in his hands. 

 

Part 4: McDonald’s.

“Exit the bank with the money and go to the McDonald’s restaurant. Get out of the car and go to the small sign reading drive thru/open 24 hours. In the flower bed by the sign there is a rock with a note taped to the bottom. It has your next instructions.”

To get his next note, Wells stopped at McDonald’s after he left the bank and retrieved it from a flower bed outside before getting back into his vehicle and proceeding to head south on Route 19/Peach Street like instructed. Little did he know, in less than 300 feet he would be pulled over in the Eyeglass World parking lot by countless police units.

 

Part 5: Everything goes wrong.

“POLICE. You may still save Bomb-hostage. To do so, all police vehicles/aircraft must stand down and assemble all units at the specified location. Country fair and Eyeglass World parking lots. No lights, vehicles face away from the road. Light 3 flares and place next to fire hydrant at Eyeglass World to indicate full cooperation. Stop no traffic in Erie County during this time. All other units must gather at this location. For every 15 units we count we will spare one retaliation target. You can be sure it is in our best interests to act upon and maintain future credibility regarding these matters.”

At roughly 3pm, Morgan, an officer responding to the commotion, said, “We got him out of the car and handcuffed him. And Brian said something about a bomb.”[2] Another officer cut parts of Wells’ shirt away o reveal what he confirmed as an actual bomb. The police proceed to sit him down and isolate him. Wells, remaining calm, asked them to remove the cuffs, and asked why they weren’t helping him remove the collar. With the bomb squad over ten miles away, and a traffic problem slowly getting worse due to the closing of Peach Street (though it was specifically outlined in the notes that the police received to NOT shut down traffic), the police on scene were left with very little options.

Wells asked the police if maybe they could find the keys before the bomb went off, but, sadly, it was too late. Seconds after, the collar started to beep, changing Brian’s demeanor from calm, to panicked. At 3:18pm, 3 minutes before the bomb squad arrived, he states that he doesn’t think he has a lot of time when the beeping starts accelerating before the long-awaited explosion occurs.

 

Part 6: The Aftermath.

With a portion of the collar still attached around his neck, the bomb squad examined his body and his car to search for more explosive devices. Investigators later attempted to complete the route the troubleshooters told Wells to follow and could not complete it. No matter how successful Brian was, how fast he drove, or how seamlessly the plan was carried out, his captors knew all along that Brian wouldn’t make it out alive.

 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Hurstories and supporting the students here at Mercyhurst University. I hope you have a good day, and never get forced to rob a bank.

 

 

[1] Harris, Chris. “After Robbing a Bank Wearing a Bomb, a Pizza Guy Was Told to Go on a Scavenger Hunt to Save Himself.” People.com, May 22, 2018. https://people.com/crime/evil-genius-read-handwritten-instructions-pizza-bomber-brian-wells/.

[2] Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist. Duplass Brothers Productions, 2018. https://www.netflix.com/title/80158319.