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Police: Robber contacts victim on Facebook to apologize

After robbing the woman at gunpoint, the man sent her a friend request with the intent to apologize

Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle, Pa.

Reading, PA — A Reading man robbed a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint, then sent a friend request to her Facebook account several weeks later saying he wanted to apologize, city police said Tuesday.

At first, the victim didn’t want to communicate with him because she believed the sender was using a fake profile, according to investigators. But that changed when the messenger offered his real Facebook profile name.

The victim opened the Facebok profile of Jerel Guzman and instantly recognize the profile picture as the man who robbed her Aug. 1, investigators said.

On Aug. 27, she met a detective and said she knows the identity of the robber.

She gave her smartphone to Criminal Investigator Buck Wendell so police could perform a forensic download to preserve the communication between her and Guzman.

Guzman, 26, of the 600 block of Moss Street was arrested Monday on robbery, theft and simple assault charges.

After arraignment before District Judge Eric J. Taylor in Reading Central Court, he was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Police provided this account of the robbery:

About midnight, the victim arrived in the 1000 block of Windsor Street to deliver a food order to a specific address. She was unable to contact anyone at the house after several attempts and returned to the store.

The manager asked that she make a second attempt because it was an order totaling about $75. She contacted the customer by cellphone and he said he would be waiting for the delivery outside the house.

When she returned about 1:25 a.m., she was met by an unknown man who was rummaging through his pockets looking for money. A second man came out of the alley and was holding a gun. He ordered the victim to drop the food and give him all the money she had.

She put $35 on top of a pizza box. The robbers took the food and told her she could leave.

She returned to her car, left the area and called police.

Officers responded to the 1000 block of Windsor but could not make contact with anyone inside the house.

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©2018 the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.)

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