A Domino’s Pizza deliveryman reportedly thwarted a kidnapping when he arrived at a customer’s home and saw a woman mouth “Help me,” officials said.
The victim reportedly was held hostage by her abusive ex-boyfriend, Dean Hoffmann, who was arrested after he ordered a pizza Thursday to the home in Waldo, Wisconsin, news station WTKR reported.
“It’s kind of scary,” driver Joey Grundl told the news station. “Gave him his pizza, and noticed behind him was his girlfriend. She pointed to a black eye that was quite visible. She mouthed the words ‘Call police.'”
The quick-thinking driver called 911 and told operators he believed a woman standing behind the male customer who opened the door was in distress.
“I had a delivery,” Grundl said to emergency dispatchers. “It was a middle-aged couple. The woman clearly had a black eye.”
When police responded to the home, Hoffman tried to block the woman from opening the door before finally letting officers inside, according to WTKR.
The woman — who reportedly broke up with Hoffman over the summer — told officers her ex broke into her home and started beating her when she attempted to call 911.
In a bid to escape, the victim punched Hoffman in the groin, but he socked her in the face, according to police.
Hoffman then bound her arms and legs using a power cord from a vacuum while trying to convince her to take him back, authorities said.
Police said he untied her after a half-hour, but refused to let her leave the residence.
She told the officers who rescued her that she “truly believed [he] was going to kill her that night,” WTKR reported.
Hoffman was arrested on numerous charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation, according to court records.