Being a pizza delivery person might seem like a good job while working through school, but for some in the Columbus area the part-time stint turned dangerous.

Recently, delivery drivers for Pizza Hut and Donatos Pizza were robbed at gunpoint of money, cell phones and pizza.

According to a recent media release, the robberies took place in the Independence Village area and there is now a $5,000 reward posted for anyone who can help lead to an arrest.

The robbers are two young black males between the ages of 17 and 18, said Jeremy Woelfle, general manager of a local Donatos Pizza.

They are not afraid to hit the same place twice, Woelfle said. Two drivers from the same Donatos Pizza location were robbed on Feb. 27 and March 5.

The thieves are usually the people ordering the deliveries and then they wait for the perfect opportunity to get away with the loot, Woelfle said. They would rob the drivers by one of two ways: either they would wait for the driver to return to his car after leaving a residence or hit the driver as soon as he stepped out of the car, Woelfle added.

“Anytime you have armed people with guns you take a risk of them shooting the driver,” said Woelfle.

This situation could have possibly become deadly. According to an online Columbus Division of Police report, one of the two robbers was screaming “Shoot him,” while the other was demanding the money.

“Delivery is very important to our business and so are our delivery drivers,” said Julie Hildebrand, a spokeswoman for Pizza Hut. “We are taking steps to see what we can do to ensure the safety of our drivers.”

Betty Schwab, public information officer for the Columbus Division of Police said she was not sure what Donatos Pizza and Pizza Hut could do to prevent anymore robberies.

“You can’t have deliverers carrying weapons,” Schwab said. “I think they are doing as much as they can.”

Donatos Pizza is taking steps to ensure orders are no longer bogus calls.

“We call back to verify all new customers orders if they’re not already in our system and we tell drivers not to get out the car before they call the new customers,” Woelfle said.

Even before the reward was issued, there has not been much robbery activity, Schwab said.

“You put out a reward, because you know typically more than one person knows what’s going on in any crime committed,” Hildebrand said. “You put out a reward giving incentive for anyone to talk about what they knowAnyone with information regarding the robberies can call 1-877-645-TIPS.