Trio Held For Pizza Delivery Driver Robbery

OCEAN CITY – Two local residents were arrested on robbery and assault charges last weekend and a third was taken into custody later this week for allegedly strong-arming a pizza delivery driver and stealing his money and wallet.

Around 10:30 p.m. last Friday, an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officer responded to the area of 74th Street for a reported strong-arm robbery. Upon arrival, the officer met with a victim who told police he was a Domino’s Pizza delivery driver and that he had just been assaulted and robbed.

The victim said one of the suspects had placed him in a chokehold and thrown him to the ground while the other suspect grabbed the money and wallet from his pants pockets. According to the victim, the two suspects then fled south through an alley between 73rd and 74th streets.

While the first officer was investigating the reported robbery and assault, another OCPD officer had stopped a black Ford Crown Victoria in the area of 71st Street for speeding and negligent driving. The second officer told the first officer the two individuals in the vehicle appeared to match the descriptions provided by the robbery victim.

The victim was transported to the 71st Street area to identify the suspects. Based on the physical appearances of the suspects, along with the clothing they were wearing, the victim positively identified the suspects as Cassandra Pike, 20, of Ocean City, and Mark Scaniffe, 18, of Berlin. The officers also found a wad of money near the rear seat where Scaniffe was sitting at the time the vehicle was stopped totaling $155.

When the officers asked the victim how much money had been stolen from him during the robbery, he said it was around $160. The victim told police he had seen Pike and Scaniffe and the Crown Victoria earlier in the evening when he was making a delivery in the Jamestown Rd. area. Another officer reported he had been called to Jamestown Rd. earlier in the evening to investigate a call about suspicious persons and a dark Crown Victoria.

Based on the evidence and the testimony and descriptions provided by the victim, Pike and Scaniffe were arrested and each was charged with three counts of felony robbery, theft and second-degree assault. During a follow-up investigation, OCPD detectives learned a third suspect, identified as Brandon M. Hilliard, 22, of Berlin, was involved in the strong-arm robbery and was later arrested.