A late-night food delivery worker may anticipate getting cheated out of a tip, but few would think one would get his or her delivery car stolen.
But just after midnight Sunday morning, Michael Hansen, 26, allegedly stole a delivery car on the corner of Lake and Langdon streets.
According to a police report, Hansen is accused of droving the stolen vehicle around for about a half-hour and was pulled over by police after being spotted on the 5500 block of University Avenue.
Todd Brogan, a late-night delivery worker, said he is not surprised something like this happened.
“People do really unreasonable and surprising things,” Brogan said.
According to the police report, Hansen was arrested on charges of operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and operating while intoxicated, his third such offense.
Brogan said as a delivery person, he gets hassled, and people do not realize it is not a joke for the delivery employee who is just trying to do his job.
“Sometimes it’s just somebody being stupid,” Brogan said. “They don’t seem to grasp how significant of an obstacle it is for us.”
These seemingly harmless antics affect a whole string of people, including the business, other customers and other delivery people working at the same time, according to Brogan.
Late-night delivery people are just trying to offer a service to people, Brogan said, adding people would never think to mess with someone like their electrician or plumber who is trying to offer them a service.
Sgt. Dave Samson could not release the name of the establishment the delivery car was from, but the report said the perpetrator was charged and the vehicle was returned.
Brogan, who makes deliveries on his bicycle, said there is a concern with being out that late at night, especially with the long string of incidents that have occurred over the past month on or near the University of Wisconsin campus.
“We’re some of the few people out at that time of night,” Brogan said, adding safety is always in the back of his mind because he delivers in the downtown and UW area.
