Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Wisconsin Pizza Delivery Guy Gets To Meet Taylor Swift After He Saves Kidnapped Woman's Life

Wisconsin Pizza Delivery Guy Gets To Meet Taylor Swift After He Saves Kidnapped Woman's Life

Steve Granitz/WireImage, GettyImages, @48hours/Twitter

Joey Grundl, a driver for Domino's Pizza in Wisconsin, is being hailed a hero after saving a kidnapped woman.

On September 27, 2018, the 24-year-old from Waldo, approached the victim's house to drop off the pie and Dean Hoffman, the woman's ex, answered the door.

That's when he saw the woman with a black eye standing behind Hoffman and silently crying for help.


Grundl told WITI Milwaukee:

"I gave him his pizza and then I noticed behind him was his girlfriend. She pointed to a black eye that was quite visible. She mouthed the words, 'Call the police.'"

Grundl returned to his car and promptly called 911.

When Sheboygan County Sheriff's Deputies arrived at the residence, Hoffman tried to block the woman from opening the door. Eventually, they were let in and arrested Hoffman when they saw the abused victim.

Taylor Swift eventually caught wind of Grundl's heroic act. Fans tagged her in pictures of Grundl being interviewed while wearing a hoodie from the singer's "Reputation Tour."


Grundl already planned to attend Taylor's concert in Arlington, Wisconsin, but his big reputation prompted the singer to arrange a meet and greet with him backstage.

Are you ready for it?

After being starstruck, Grundl tweeted on Saturday:

"She … she knew who I was."

He added jokingly:

"I'm thoroughly convinced Taylor gave me a cold."

On a serious note, he became emotional after reflecting on a crazy week.

"This has been one of the most exciting weeks of my life. I'm legitimately getting emotional and I almost never get like this. But as the likely most memorable week of my entire life comes to an end … I guess I can really say … I'm doing better than I ever was."


According to the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office report, Hoffman, 55, had barged his way into his ex-girlfriend's home around 1 p.m. and tried to force her back into a relationship with him.

He allegedly punched her in the face, dragged her by the hair up the stairs, hog-tied her with a vacuum power cord and gagged her with a towel.

The 57-year-old woman told Hoffman:

"If you love me, you will let me go."

Hoffman reportedly replied:

"You know I can't do that."

He also told her he shouldn't have left his gun in the car so that he could shoot them both.

The victim later told investigators "she was sure she was going to die tonight."

A .22-caliber firearm was later found in the trunk of Hoffman's vehicle.

According to a criminal complaint, the two started dating in 2016 and lived together until August 2018. When they broke up, the woman moved into a new home – the location of Grundl's pizza delivery.


According to Newsweek, Hoffman was charged with kidnapping, suffocation, strangulation, false imprisonment and intimidation of a victim.

He is placed on suicide watch in the booking area holding cells after mentioning taking his own life to law enforcement and a suicide note left while he held his ex-girlfriend captive.

In addition to being a Swiftie, Grundl is also a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. After being spotted wearing a baseball cap bearing the team's logo, radio host Steve Palec gave him a hero's welcome.

Well done, Joey!

Taylor Swift's new album Lover is available for pre-order here.

---------

Listen to the first episode of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!', where we explore the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.

Be sure to subscribe here and never miss an episode.

More from People

Screenshot of Seth Meyers discussing Donald Trump
@MarcoFoster/X

Seth Meyers Responds To Trump's 'Truly Deranged' Personal Attack Against Him With Hilarious Takedown

After President Donald Trump lashed out at late-night host Seth Meyers on Truth Social over the weekend and called him a "truly deranged lunatic," Meyers responded to Trump’s “ranting and raving” about him with a damning supercut on his program.

Trump apparently tuned in to Thursday night’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, where Meyers poked fun at the president’s complaints about Navy aircraft carriers using electromagnetic catapults instead of traditional steam-powered ones. Meyers joked that Trump "spends more time thinking about catapults than Wile E. Coyote."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @rootednjoyy's TikTok video
@rootednjoyy/TikTok

Girl's Hilarious Reaction To Getting Divisive Candy For Halloween Caught On Doorbell Cam

In the '80s and '90s, kids were raised with the understanding that they got what they got, and they should say, "Thank you," for what they received. This was true for birthdays, holidays, and trick-or-treating on Halloween, even if they got candy they wanted to throw away the instant they turned the corner.

But kids today are much more communicative about what they like and don't like, and they can be brutal in their bluntness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lauren Boebert
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Lauren Boebert Slammed After Photos Of Her Racist ICE-Theme Halloween Costume Emerge

Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert—one of the most prominent MAGA voices in Congress—has sparked outrage after she and her boyfriend Kyle Pearcy attended a Halloween party dressed as a Mexican woman and an ICE agent.

Boebert wore a sombrero and a traditional Mexican-style dress to a party in Loveland, Colorado, while Pearcy, a realtor, attended dressed as an ICE agent, complete with a uniform and weapon. The event took place amid growing outrage over President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown that is tearing apart families across the country.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Marjorie Taylor Greene
ABC

MTG Just Admitted The Awkward Truth About The Republican Healthcare Plan On 'The View'

Speaking on The View, Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke about sparring with House Speaker Mike Johnson over healthcare—and revealed that the GOP does not have any replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) despite what Johnson and her fellow congressional conservatives tell the public.

Democrats have continued to reject Republicans’ proposed continuing resolution to keep the government open without considering an extension of the premium tax credit that helps subsidize health insurance for people earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.

Keep ReadingShow less
protest with flat Earth sign
Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash

People Share The Best Ways To Shut Down A Debate With A Flat Earther Family Member

The Flat Earth conspiracy theory is strictly a modern online movement, rumored to have begun as a prank, that gained momentum among people who mistrust authority through the power of social media.

There is a persistent myth that Europeans in the Middle Ages believed the Earth was flat. But that is a 19th-century fabrication to sell Columbus Day, not historical reality.

Keep ReadingShow less