Victim mouths ‘help me' to pizza delivery man; ex-boyfriend arrested, police say

LYNDON, Wis. (FOX 13) - A pizza delivery man served more than just pizza after rescuing a hostage, police said.

Around 1 p.m. on September 27, Joey Grundl brought the pizza to the front door of the victim’s home in Waldo, Wisconsin. When 55-year-old Dean Hoffmann answered the door, Grundl said he noticed the victim behind him.

Grundl said she pointed to her black eye and mouthed the words, “help me” and “call the police,” according to Sheboygan Press.

When he left the home, Grundl called police. Law enforcement officers arrived and discovered that Hoffmann allegedly came to his ex-girlfriend’s home in Sheboygan County without her permission last week, and punched her, WITI reported. He then bound and gagged her. Investigators said Hoffmann also had a firearm and threatened to shoot both of them.

According to WITI, Hoffmann initially blocked police from entering the home but eventually let them inside. Police said they could hear the victim shouting “please come in” and “help me” from inside the home.

Hoffmann faces several charges, including burglary of a building, false imprisonment, felony intimidation of a victim, kidnapping and strangulation and suffocation.