Pizza deliveryman shot three times in robbery

A pizza deliveryman was shot three times by two men during a stickup while on the job in West Philadelphia early Thursday, police said.

The man, an employee of Pete's Pizza in Wynnefield, was delivering a pizza and the bottle of soda to an apartment on the 900 block of North 63d Street about 12:45 a.m. when he was approached by two men shortly after he got out of his car, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.

He struggled with his assailants, but one of them pulled out a gun and shot him twice, in the abdomen. After he fell, the gunman shot him again, through the legs, Walker said.

The robbers fled south on 63d, where a car was waiting for them, Walker said. The victim, whose name was not released, was in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Walker said detectives were trying to determine whether the robbers had called in the order to themselves.

In similar incidents, he said, the robber calls the restaurant and requests delivery to a certain location - usually an abandoned house - and then lies in wait for the victim.

Anyone with information on the incident should call 215-686-TIPS, he said.