A Florida sheriff who was caught delivering pizzas without gloves or a mask said on Sunday that he is trying to help out the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to local reports, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood spent the weekend delivering pizzas for My Cousin Vinny’s restaurant.
A video tweeted by the sheriff showed him delivering at least one pizza without gloves or a mask.
Been having a blast delivering pizzas these past couple nights. Back at it again tomorrow at Italiano's in Deltona. Even if you don't order from me, I hope this gets you thinking about ordering from someplace in your area that NEEDS your business during these tough economic times pic.twitter.com/JjIEJteH0F
— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) March 29, 2020
"I believe that public safety and the economy are both dependent on one another," Chitwood told Fox News host Leland Vittert on Sunday. "I tried to focus on some of the restaurants and say, the sheriff will deliver your pizza, the sheriff will be out there for curbside service to try to get people to realize the economy is open."
The sheriff went on to complain about an increase in "juvenile crime" during the pandemic.
"For drug dealers, we just did a big operation for street-level sales," he explained. "We just locked up 36 people for the sale of heroin and cocaine. And it was interesting that they're wearing rubber gloves and face masks when they're peddling this poison on our streets."
