Pizza Hut matches homicide reward

11/29/2007
By Karl Fischer
STAFF WRITER
San Jose Mercury News (Calif., USA)

The company that employed a pizza delivery driver shot this week in Richmond will match a $10,000 police reward offer for information leading to the conviction of his killer.

Thanh Thach, 38, died about 9 p.m. Monday in a shooting on the 800 block of South 45th Street while trying to deliver a pizza. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.

Richmond police have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Pizza Hut offers an additional $10,000, a company spokesman said Thursday.

The company and Thach's family each have set up funds for the family. Those wishing to donate can take checks to the Thanh Thach Memorial Fund, account number 0478766625, to any Bank of America branch or any Richmond-area Pizza Hut.

The victim's family also set up a separate fund at Washington Mutual Bank, account number 3573511091.

Police ask anyone with information to call Richmond police Detective Eric Haupt at 510-620-6622 or the anonymous tip line at 510-232-TIPS.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com.

$10,000 reward for information on the shooting of Thanh Thach in Richmond

Police Offer $10,000 Reward In Deliveryman Shooting

November 27, 2007
Fox TV Channel Reno (USA)

RICHMOND, Calif. -- The Richmond Police Department announced Tuesday that it is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the killing of Thanh Thach, a Pizza Hut deliveryman shot from behind in Richmond Monday night.

Lt. Mark Gagan said that the department believes Thach was randomly killed in what may have been a gang initiation.

Thach was in the 800 block of South 45th Street in the city's Park Plaza neighborhood at 8:58 p.m. looking for the correct address of a resident who ordered a pizza, Gagan said.

The female caller said that a man had been shot in front of her home. Responding officers found Thach at the reported location and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Preliminary reports indicated that Thach was attempting to deliver a pizza to an apartment in the 900 block of South 45th Street but could not locate the building.

As he wandered the neighborhood in search of his destination, unknown assailants approached him and attempted to rob him, Berry said.

Thach tried to run away, but was shot twice from behind.

"The address had had pizzas delivered at least five occasions -- it's an address they had been out to before," said Sgt. Mitch Peixoto. "This delivery person had not been out here before. He was lost."

Gagan added that the killing came in a part of the troubled city that was designated as a high-crime area during the city's state of emergency two years ago.

Nothing was stolen from Thach during the shooting. He was found with his cell phone, his wallet and the pizza he was trying to deliver, according to Gagan. Police are unsure of a motive for the shooting, Gagan said.

The murder has compelled the department to offer the reward, funded by the city of Richmond.

"The senseless killing of Mr. Thach has compelled the Richmond Police Department to use all of its resources in trying to solve this crime," he said.

"Looking at the hardship that it has caused his family and the community we feel it is imperative that we solve this crime," Gagan said. "We are actively investigating this but were waiting for that important tip to come in."

Thach, a recent U.S. citizen who came from Cambodia in 1994, leaves behind two young children, a 3-year-old and an 18-month-old, Gagan said.

A memorial fund for Thach's family is being set up by Pizza Hut, Gagan said. Donations of money for the fund and toys for the children can be delivered to the Pizza Hut where Thach worked at 11775 San Pablo Ave. in El Cerrito.

Thach had worked at Pizza Hut for one month, and also worked at a local post office, according to Gagan.

Thach was the first pizza deliveryman killed in Richmond in three years, according to Gagan.

The homicide was the 34th of the year in Richmond and came three days after three people were gunned down in separate drive-by shootings on the city's violent streets. The East Bay community was ranked as America's ninth most dangerous city in CQ Press' recent annual survey based on FBI crime statistics.

Police are asking that those with information about the shooting call Detective Eric Haupt at (510) 620-6622.