A teen-aged bandit today pleaded guilty to two holdups of pizza delivery drivers in return for 10 years to serve in prison.
Anthony Jermaine Pridgen, now 17, pleaded guilty in the 2011 cases before Chatham County Superior Court as part of a negotiated plea-sentence.
He had been scheduled for a jury trial on Monday.
Assistant District Attorney David Rhoden told Walmsley Pridgen agreed to plead guilty to armed robbery and aggravated assault charges in the Aug. 11, 2011, robbery and assault on Samuel Jackson who was confronted by an armed bandit as he attempted to deliver a pizza.
He also pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault on Aug. 12, 2011, after he fired on an undercover Savannah-Chatham police officer posing as a pizza delivery man in a special operation to solve a series of robberies of pizza delivery drivers.
The suspect fired several shots at the officer before fleeing and being arrested nearby.
The undercover operation involved 12-15 officers with the undercover officer involved using an unmarked car with a national pizza company logo attached to its roof. He drove into the Oaks at Brandlewood apartment complex on Garrard Avenue where he was quickly approached by the armed suspect, police said.
As part of the plea negotiation, prosecutors agreed to 10-year concurrent terms for all of the counts. They then dismissed related charges in each case.
Pridgen, who was 15 at the time, has remained in custody since his arrest Aug. 12, 2011. He was on probation for simple battery at the time, police said.