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Pizza delivery driver beaten with baseball bat in Raeford

A pizza delivery driver was beaten so badly during a robbery last week that he had to undergo brain surgery, according to the Hoke County Sheriff's Office, which charged a Raeford man Tuesday in connection with the attack.

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RAEFORD, N.C. — A pizza delivery driver was beaten so badly during a robbery last week that he had to undergo brain surgery, according to the Hoke County Sheriff's Office, which charged a Raeford man Tuesday in connection with the attack.

More arrests are expected.

Tyler Joseph Lloyd, 19, delivered an order placed online to the 1600 block of O'Bannon Drive in Raeford on Friday night and was beaten with a baseball bat and robbed by two men, authorities said.

Deputies found Lloyd unconscious in his car on Clan Campbell Drive after co-workers at the Domino's Pizza at 7082 Fayetteville Road in Raeford called for help. 

"There's no doubt he was going to be left for dead," said Sheriff Hubert Peterkin.

Manager Ashley Pitman said she waited about 40 minutes before she went to look for Lloyd and called 911. She said she was alarmed because he wasn't answering his cellphone or home phone.

"O'Bannon Drive is literally a 20 minute drive there and back," she said. "It got all of us scared and worried."

Lloyd is being treated at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday night.

Juan Foronte McPhaul, 30, was arrested while walking down Wayside Road and charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. 

Peterkin said investigators executed a search warrant at McPhaul's home, 217 Springer Drive in Raeford, on Saturday, where they found evidence linking him to the robbery.

More evidence was found at 215 Springer Drive, Peterkin said.

McPhaul was being held Tuesday in the Hoke County jail under a $500,000 secure bond.

Peterkin called the beating "senseless."

Pitman said she is worried about violence against delivery drivers.

"It scares all of us that something so serious and dangerous happened to one of our driver, that literally could have killed him," she said. "These people need to go down."

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