Attempted robbery in village probed

MIDDLE POINT — The Van Wert County Sheriff’s Department is investigating what appears to be a robbery attempt in the Middle Point area.

Deputies received a complaint from a pizza delivery driver stating that someone had accosted him in the village on Tuesday evening.

The complainant, who works as a delivery driver and manager for Marco’s Pizza in Delphos, said that business received a request to deliver a pizza to 163 Normal St. in Middle Point. However, when the driver attempted to deliver the pizza he found there was no such address in the village.

While still on Normal Street, the driver said he attempted to call the number given to him, but he got a message saying the number was invalid and then someone spoke in a foreign language, so he hung up.

He then began to place his cell phone on the passenger’s seat when someone reached in the open driver’s window of his vehicle and grabbed his shirt. The driver, who had been robbed previously in Lima, immediately let out on the clutch and his vehicle accelerated, causing the driver’s shirt to rip and the unknown assailant to lose his grip.

Deputies are continuing to investigate the incident.