Man shoots Instacart driver he mistook for intruder after wife’s grocery order, PA cops say

A man is accused of shooting an Instacart driver he mistook for an intruder, but who was trying to deliver groceries ordered by the man’s wife, police say.

The shooting happened on the night of Saturday, Jan. 18, in Newton Township, police in the neighboring community of South Abington told McClatchy News.

Nicholas Sabo, 43, was arrested on a charge of recklessly endangering another person, according to court records filed in Lackawanna County.

Attorney information for Sabo was not immediately available.

Investigators learned Sabo’s wife had placed an order for groceries through the Instacart app, but didn’t tell her husband, Police Chief Paul Wolfe told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

But when a driver for Instacart arrived to make the delivery, Sabo’s wife received an alert from a home security camera that movement had been detected near the garage, and she thought someone was trying to break in to a utility trailer on the property, Wolfe said.

Sabo went outside with a gun to confront the supposed intruder and shot him in the legs, Wolfe said.

“(The husband) goes out, sees the individual and, no verbal confrontation no nothing, just shoots,” Wolfe said.

The driver ran back to his vehicle, where his wife and child were waiting for him, and drove a short distance away and called 911, Wolfe said.

The driver was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery, according to Wolfe. He is stable and recovering.

Wolfe says more charges will likely be brought against Sabo.

Newton Township is a roughly 130-mile drive north from Philadelphia.

This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Man shoots Instacart driver he mistook for intruder after wife’s grocery order, PA cops say."