‘Holdup’ Joke No Laughing Matter

Two Simi Valley men have been arrested for holding a Domino’s Pizza deliveryman at gunpoint in what they said was a practical joke, police said Monday.

Kenton Weaver, 20, a former Domino’s employee, and Keith Kassan, 19, were each free on $20,000 bail after their arrest Saturday evening on suspicion of attempted robbery and false imprisonment, Simi Valley police Lt. Rick TerBorch said.

Lt. Don Austin said the men ordered a pizza to be delivered to Weaver’s home in the 4400 block of Lubbock Drive. When the deliveryman arrived, Weaver invited him into the house and Kassan jumped out of a hiding place and aimed a .22-caliber rifle at the deliveryman’s head, Austin said.

After Kassan ordered the deliveryman, James Gill, 20, to turn over his money and kneel on the floor, “the suspects began laughing and told Gill they were just joking and that they were imitating the method used in recent Los Angeles robberies and murder involving Domino’s Pizza employees,” TerBorch said. A 21-year-old Domino’s employee was robbed and killed Dec. 9 when he delivered a pizza to a Glendale motel room.

Gill, who was not injured, was allowed to leave the house with his money. He reported the incident to police, who arrested Weaver at the house a short time later, Austin said. Kassan turned himself in at the Simi Valley police station, Austin said.

Weaver and Kassan spent a night in Ventura County Jail before posting bail. Police plan to present the case to the Ventura County district attorney’s office today, TerBorch said.