Ukrainian Village pizzeria robbers caught on tape
By STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter/sesposito@suntimes.com January 6, 2012 9:22PM
Updated: January 6, 2012 9:56PM
John Gagliardi Sr. had a gun pointed at his head, got slugged three times, lost a grand in cash and, to top it off, one of the men who robbed his Ukrainian Village pizza joint early Friday morning grinned at him on the way out the door.
If Gagliardi’s face didn’t hurt so bad, he might be grinning now too because the robbers, including their faces, were caught on a video surveillance system the owner installed a couple of days ago.
“The money — forget about it, don’t worry about it,” said Gagliardi, in a voice that’s 100-percent Taylor Street. “You can always make money. When you’re dead, you ain’t gonna make it.”
The robbers entered Village Pizza, 2356 W. Chicago, about 5 a.m. Friday — near closing time, Gagliardi said. the pizza maker served up two of his famously huge slices, and that’s when the robbers — the only customers in the restaurant at the time — came around the counter and demanded the cash in the register.
On the surveillance video, one of the men can be seen repeatedly pointing a gun at Gagliardi and another employee.
“They came around the counter with a gun and punched the s— out of me,” said Gagliardi, who said he’s been serving pizza in that location for 15 years. “I’m lucky to be here telling you about it.”
A female employee, Gagliardi’s step-daughter, can be seen on the video trying frantically to open the cash register, and after some fumbling, the woman succeeds. the robbers then scoop up the cash and head out the door, dropping some on the way out.
Gagliardi said he tried repeatedly to tell the robbers that they were being videotaped. That’s when the gunman turned to grin at Gagliardi — an image caught perfectly on tape.
“He didn’t believe me,” Gagliardi said. “That’s why I guess he smiled.”
Gagliardi said video surveillance from a neighboring Burger King caught images of the get-away car and its license plate.
Gagliardi said folks are telling him maybe he should think about closing his store.
But Gagliardi — who was held up eight years ago and whose nephew was shot dead while delivering pizza three years ago — was in a feisty mood Friday night.
“You gotta tell the mayor not to close the police stations,” Gagliardi said, referring to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plans to close district stations to save money. “It’s gonna get worse.”
