Canteen reported that a route driver was robbed on Friday, Sept 23, 2011 while servicing the University of Pennsylvania, according to a security alert from the National Automatic Merchandising Association. He was outside of Huntsman Hall, one of the more secure buildings. He was at the back of his truck when he was approached by two men dressed in blue shirts and black pants carrying bolt cutters.
The driver was told to open the truck, and was threatened if he did not do so. After he opened the truck, he was shot with a Taser and thrown into the truck. He was told that his route and stops were known, and that they “could take him out.” He was forced to open the safe, and the robbers took collection bags and a cell phone.
The driver was told not to try go back to the warehouse; if he did, they would follow him and “take everybody out.” When he was able to drive away, the driver noticed he was being followed so he kept driving in the city. He called a supervisor on his personal cell phone to report what happened, and police were contacted. Police officers asked the driver to pull into a nearby parking lot so they could take a statement and determine if he was still being followed. The driver was then taken to a police district office to look through mug photos.
The University of Pennsylvania has been notified and their security department is currently reviewing security tapes. Canteen has informed other accounts within the city of Philadelphia, to put them on alert and to ask them to alert Canteen and the police immediately if anyone comes to their facility that they do not recognize as their normal route person.
Another vending company in the Philadelphia area reported that one of their vehicles was burglarized last week. The route driver had noticed a vehicle following him; while he was parked, and the vehicle was unattended, it was broken into. Several thousand dollars in collections and change funds were stolen.
