By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Someone stole a pizza delivery driver’s car Monday night, taking it for a short joy ride before dumping it in a parking lot.

But while the thief fled with the driver’s cell phone and keys, he left $1,700 in cash and a supply of Vicodin on the front console.

“I can’t believe how lucky you are,” Patrolman Michael Dumond said, returning Bobby Thibodeau’s money.

Thibodeau, a Papa John’s driver for four years, was delivering pizza to an apartment at 144 Horton St. before 9 p.m. when he saw a man and boy walking toward his 2005 Nissan Sentra. He had left his keys in the car, but he didn’t consider the pair a threat.

“He had a kid with him, so I was like He’s not going to steal my car,'” Thibodeau said.

After he got inside to make the delivery, Thibodeau looked out the window and saw his car speeding away.

He called the police from the patron’s phone.

Police patrolled the area, eventually spotting the red car – with its rooftop Papa John’s sign – abandoned in a parking lot on Shawmut Street. The car still had its lights on.

A state police dog searched the area, but could not find a trail.

Thibodeau’s cell phone and car keys were missing. But police found Thibodeau’s personal wallet, which had $1,600 in cash, and his Papa John’s wallet, which had about $100 in cash, on the console between the front seats. They believe the thief didn’t see them in his rush to flee the scene.

Inside the console, they found Thibodeau’s full supply of Vicodin, pain pills he had recently picked up for his back.

Thibodeau used his spare keys to take the car home. He vowed to do his deliveries a little differently.

“I’m taking my keys and locking my doors,” he said.

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