LAKE CITY, Fla. -- In Lake City, there's one Papa John's and one Dominos.
But after a recent fire, this is the greeting you get from Papa John's pizza restaurant. "The number you have reached has been disconnected," a phone recording says.
Mission accomplished, says Lake City police Capt. John Blanchard. He said two managers of the Domino's pizza restaurant torched the Papa John's to increase sales.
The pizza wars are now at dangerous levels.
"I was dumbfounded over how somebody could go to those lengths over pizza," said Lake City Papa John's owner Jacob Wilkes.
Bryan Sullivan and Sean Davidson are charged with felony arson. The Papa John's is a total loss.
Wilkes is now back in Orlando delivering pizza, where he started, while he plans to rebuild the store in Lake City.
He pooled money with two friends to buy the Lake City location just three months ago. "We've been doing really well in sales since we got there. I'm sure that was a factor in them deciding they had to do something," Wilkes said.
Meanwhile, the Domino's pizza in Lake City is still open for business.
They referred our questions to the owner in Fernandina Beach. But Domino's corporate spokesman Tim McIntyre says, "We are as shocked as anyone. This incident is the result of individuals acting independently. ... Domino's Pizza has nothing but the greatest respect for the Papa John's brand."
Wilkes said, "I'm more sympathetic toward the families of the guys that did it. I can only imagine the regret and what they're looking at now and thinking how stupid it was. Just to think back, it's only pizza."
First Coast News
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