Woman Escapes Hostage Situation Through Ingenious Use of the Pizza Hut AppAn urban legend became high-tech reality this week when a quick-thinking mom sent out a cry for help through a pizza-delivery app.

ByKate Taylor

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As the pizza industry continues to embrace digital, one woman found an unconventional way to use Pizza Hut's app to escape a potentially dangerous situation.

On Monday, a woman in Highlands County, Fla., used Pizza Hut's app to report a hostage situation, reportsWFLA. The woman, Cheryl Treadway, had been threatened by her knife-wielding boyfriend, Ethan Nickerson. Treadway had no way to escape or call for help, as Nickerson had taken her phone and trapped her and her three children in the home.

However, Treadway convinced Nickerson to allow her to order pizza using the Pizza Hut app. In the comments, usually an area reserved for designations such as "extra ranch on the side," Treadway wrote "911hostage help!"

Related:4 High-Tech Ways to Order Food That Didn't Exist Last Year

Pizza Hut employees quickly called authorities and police were dispatched to the house. Treadway greeted the police at the door and escaped with one child. Police managed to convince Nickerson to surrender. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a weapon without intent to kill, battery, false imprisonment and obstructing justice by depriving communication to law enforcement.

女人的都市传奇逃避国内的弦乐器ence under the ruse of ordering pizza has been around since at least 2010, when the Norwegian Woman's Shelter Association created a public service announcement using this scenario,reports the myth-debunking website Snopes. This year,a similar PSAfeaturing a woman calling 911 while pretending to order pizza became the first ever Super Bowl commercial to address domestic violence and sexual assault. Whether or not these PSAs are based in reality, in this instance the pizza chain certainly came through, giving someone the means to find a way out of a scary situation.

Related:Pizza Hut Is Testing Uber-Esque Delivery Tracking Tech

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Kate Taylor

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Kate Taylor is a reporter at Business Insider. She was previously a reporter at Entrepreneur. Get in touch with tips and feedback on Twitter at @Kate_H_Taylor.

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