"I was held up at gunpoint by the Pizza Bandit."

"I was held up at gunpoint by the Pizza Bandit."

From This One Time in Kankakee by WVLI Podcast Network

April 20, 2026 · 20 min · Episode 16

About this episode

Tom Klonowski recounts his life-altering encounter with the Pizza Bandit during a robbery at his pizzeria in 1997.

In the summer of 1997, Tom Klonowski was in his mid-twenties and just starting his journey as the owner of Pizza by Marchellonis in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It was a Friday night in August when a routine order for a pepperoni pizza turned into a life-altering encounter with a man the local press dubbed "The Pizza Bandit." In this episode of This One Time in Kankakee, host Jake LaMore sits down with Tom to recount the details of the robbery and the multi-state investigation that followed. Tom sh...

People in this episode

Host: Jake LaMore

Guest: Tom Klonowski

Topics covered

  • crime
  • local history
  • personal story
  • investigation
  • pizza

Keywords

  • Pizza Bandit
  • robbery
  • Bourbonnais
  • Tom Klonowski
  • 1997
  • investigation
  • pizza

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pizza by Marchellonis

Places: Bourbonnais, Illinois

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