By Brian Anderson
San Ramon Valley Times

Nov. 11, 1999

SAN RAMON — A 19-year-old man was critically injured Monday night after he was thrown from his pickup while trying to stop a woman who stole it during a pizza delivery to a San Ramon house, police said.

Anthony R. Torres of San Ramon pulled his 1991 Chevrolet pickup in front of a Talavera Drive house at 7:30 p.m. and left it running as he went to the door, said San Ramon police Sgt. Jim Mahoney.

While Torres made his delivery for Pavlo's Pizza and Pasta, a woman jumped out of an early model Mazda RX-7 or Nissan 280Z and hopped into the truck, Mahoney said.

Torres ran after the woman as she drove away, police said. He dove part way into the open passenger-side window and clung to the bed of the truck with an arm and a leg, a witness told police.

The pickup ripped toward San Ramon Valley Boulevard as the other car followed, Mahoney said.

Torres struggled to hang on as the woman, reaching speeds of 60 mph, drove toward Bollinger Canyon Road, police said.

She drove to the on-ramp for southbound I-680, where Torres apparently lost his grip and was flung from the truck, striking his head on the ground, Mahoney said.

Police said the woman continued south on I-680 as her accomplice followed her.

California Highway Patrol and San Ramon Valley fire paramedics responded and found Torres, who was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. He was in critical condition Tuesday afternoon with a fractured skull.

Torres' sister, Dolores Torres, said that her parents have been at the hospital all day and that she felt "like any normal sister would feel" about the incident.

"I don't want anything to happen to him," she said.

Mahoney said police are investigating the case as a carjacking.

Authorities are looking for a white or primer-gray RX-7 or 280Z. They are also trying to track down Torres' blue 1991 Chevrolet 1500 extended cab pickup, with a California license plate of 4G44362.

A witness, who thought the theft was "some people playing around," could not give a description of the driver of the other car.

An employee of Pavlo's Pizza and Pasta in San Ramon said Torres had worked there for only a couple of weeks. He referred further comment to a night manager, who did not return a phone call.

There was no answer at the house where Torres made the delivery Monday night.

Police do not believe the people who ordered the food were involved. They had no other leads Tuesday.

Travis Johnson, a manager and former delivery driver for Garlex Pizza in Danville, had not heard of the incident, but said it was extremely rare.

"I've never heard of anything like that," he said. "We'll definitely tell our drivers tonight to make sure they're aware of what's going on."

Youngsters who run off without paying for their pizza are more common, said Johnson, 22, adding that drivers are told not to leave money in their cars, and to lock their doors and take their keys with them.