An unprecedented arctic low brought really nasty winter weather to most of the continental US and southern Canada last week. And with it, a living Hell for food delivery drivers, riders and walkers. This is the story of one of them…
@officercraig $2 TIP SHOULD BE A CRIME! Whoever did this: #SHAMEFUL ROCKSTAR PIZZA HAS A ROCKSTAR DRIVER. (Brownsburg, IN.) This guy is a RARE breed. During today’s all day snowstorm, crashes and slideoffs were coming in near 30 calls an hour. This school bus had a minor crash. The bus slid backwards and sideways down a hill and gets stuck, blocking this neighborhood street, and making it completely impassable. The roads were so bad, it took us 20 min. to get 3-4 miles. THIS #DELIVERYDRIVER pulled up before officers arrived. The delivery was about 1/4 mile past where the bus was blocking the street. This young man did not allow this to discourage him. He didn’t call his manager to complain, he didn’t call the customer and tell them their $40 pizza order could not be delivered. Oh no. THIS MAN IS BUILT DIFFERENT. He would not be discouraged by the obstacles he was encountering, which included a 1/2 mile hike round trip in the cold, wet snow. He parked his vehicle at the top of the hill, got out, wearing grey sweats, Nikes, and NO COAT nor GLOVES. He grabbed this #RockstarPizza, and took off hiking thru the very cold, and wet snow with the pizza in tow. It was the beginning of his shift at 4:30p on a Friday afternoon, BUT he was determined this family got their pizza. This is in a more affluent neighborhood, and I’m sure he thought he would be rewarded properly for his RARE display of PRIDE and DEDICATION to his work- that is often times not seen by some of his generation. But more so, he wanted to ensure this family got their pizza to their door! So they did not have to leave the confines of their warm, comfortable, AND VERY NICE home. He got my attention as I see him walking in the middle of street after he made the delivery. I said outloud “what does this guy think he is doing?” As I initially thought he was a neighbor coming to “rubberneck” the crash. The bus driver told me he walked by once and was delivering a pizza. I didn’t believe that fully because what young pizza delivery guy in 2025 would do this??? None that I know! Not believing it completely, I hit RECORD and ask this young man. I was dumbfounded and in disbelief when he confirmed. But most of all – I was impressed- AND STILL AM! I’m proud to witness this firsthand. But my excitement and pride quickly turned to frustration when I asked him about his tip. WHO TIPS A GUY WHO RISKS EVERYTHING TO DRIVE FOOD TO YOUR DOOR LIKE THIS?? Let alone, gets out to hike it to you while every road was nearly impassable! I REALLY HOPE this algorithm is good enough that whomever DID THIS, SEES THIS! You should be ashamed of yourself whoever u are!! SHAME ON YOU. A $40 pizza delivered and a $2 tip! EVERYONE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD CAN AFFORD IT. AND IF THEY CANT, STOP ORDERING PIZZA YOU CANT AFFORD! After processing he only received $2, and what I just witnessed, I reached for my own wallet. To PAY THE TIP FOR SOMEONE THAT PROBABLY MAKES DOUBLE MY SALARY. But I did not want this young man discouraged. Unfortunately my wallet was in my Tahoe, which was at the top of the big hill. I quickly as I could chased him down up the hill giving him the little cash I had in my wallet. (About $15) HE DESERVED MUCH MORE. Not sure who this guy is, BUT IF YOU DO, PLZ TAG HIM, SHOW HIM SOME ❤️❤️❤️ AND GIVE HIM THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES! Well done sir.🫡#IncredibleWork #Rockstar #Brownsburg #Indiana #delivery #Driver #snow #PizzaGuy #pizza @Dave Portnoy #LifeLawAndFootball #dedicated #workethic @Pat McAfee Show Clips ♬ original sound – Officer Craig
“You delivering a pizza, bro?”
“You get a good tip?” Craig asked 20-year-old Connor Stephanoff who had to park his car at the bottom of a slippery, snow-covered hill and walk the ‘last mile’ through blizzard conditions to his destination. “Two Dollars,” Stephanoff replied, offhand.
“Are you kidding me?” Craig said, bending closer to his body cam. “Man! cold-blooded! Two dollars! Look at this man! This man walked through hell and high water to deliver a pizza!”
Craig immediately pulled out his wallet and gave the kid the last $15 in cash he had on him.
“Because that’s the right thing to do,” Craig went on before swivelling to show viewers the large, houses in the affluent neighborhood. “It’s not like these people didn’t have the money to tip that young man. Absolutely insane. Do better, folks!”
Posted the footage
Craig posted the footage of his encounter after he got back to the station later that day. And the followers of the community policing champ were quick to weigh in.
“If you’re coming out in the snow for me, I’m giving you at least a $20 tip for [that] pizza,” one commenter asserted. And that gave Craig an idea…
Go fund him!
He set up a Go Fund Me page for Stephanoff, and pointed his fans to it.He figured, if he could raise $5oo for Stephanoff, he’s done his good deed for the day. But over the next three weeks, word got around. And more than 2,ooo donors had dropped over $41,000 in the hat.
Turns out, Stephanoff lives with his grandmother. He borrows her car to deliver pizzas so he can help out with expenses. He says he’ll buy a car of his own with some of the money. He’ll use what’s left over to go to college, majoring in either history or business.
“Good things come to good people who do the right thing,” concludes Craig, in a follow-up on his Tik Tok account.
My take
Funny thing… Sister Erin and I screened Field of Dreams (1989) last night, on Netflix. The first time we’ve reprised it in probably 20 years. And this morning, Craig’s post…
Just goes to show you: “If you build [a Go Fund Me page for a worthwhile cause], people will come!”
And journalists will cover the story.
~ Maggie J.