Police arrested a Bentonville pizza delivery driver Monday on suspicion of faking an aggravated robbery while on the job.
Richard Muse, 21, faces a felony charge of filing a false police report, according to the Bentonville Police Department. Muse remained Tuesday in the Benton County Jail on $10,000 bond, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
Muse, a delivery driver for Pizza Hut, called police Aug. 9 to report that he was robbed at gunpoint by several men at the Spot-Not Car Wash on North Walton Boulevard in Bentonville. After a two-month-long aggravated robbery investigation, detectives determined Muse was lying about the incident and arrested him, police said.
Muse, who was on probation from a drug conviction, told police two pickup trucks surrounded him. A black male wearing a hooded shirt and a bandanna covering his face pointed a gun at Muse and demanded his money, he told detectives. The suspects then left the scene, Muse said.
He called his managers at Pizza Hut to report the alleged robbery and then called police, saying about $350 was stolen from his wallet after making a pizza delivery.
Muse eventually told police the robbery did not happen, according to a probable cause report from his arrest. The report states someone stole about $350 or $400 from Muse’s car the night of the alleged robbery while his car was in Pizza Hut’s parking lot. Instead of reporting the burglary to police, he concocted a story about being robbed at gunpoint while out on a delivery, according to the report.
