What started as a funny Facebook post about Oswego police officers who delivered a pizza after arresting the delivery driver led to a phone call from a People magazine reporter who happened to catch wind of the quirky story.
Oswego police pulled over a 19-year-old pizza delivery driver who apparently wasen route to a home around 8:45 p.m. Jan. 25 when he was stopped for driving through a parking lot to avoid a red light, police said.
During the traffic stop, Chief Jeff Burgner said police found a glass pipe used for smoking marijuana inside the vehicle. The delivery driver and his passenger were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
And, while they noticed the pipe in the car, the two responding officers also noticed a piping-hot pizza in the back seat, Burgner said.
“The pizza was already paid for, and the delivery location was within a few blocks,” Burgner said. “They decided one should go ahead and make the delivery.”
The department posted the quirky tale on its Facebook page as a way to promote positive works of the force in a humorous way, Burgner said.
Within days, the post went viral and caught the eye of a reporter at People magazine.
“It happened fast,” the chief said of the attention the story garnered. “It definitely wasn’t something we were expecting to get a whole lot of attention.”
But attention was exactly what the Facebook post got.
“The post was written to show the human side of police officers. That’s one thing I like about the attention it’s getting,” Burgner said.
Radio spots and reporter interviews were requested left and right, he said.
“We definitely engaged our community, and a lot of others,” Burgner said.
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