Four robbers who plotted to mug a pizza boy after ordering a delivery to an unoccupied house found their plans coming undone when a 250lb former linebacker turned up with the pie.

Napoleon Harris III, the six-foot-three-inch Illinois Senator and former Minnesota Vikings linebacker, was in a Chicago Beggars Pizza franchise he owns when a call came in at the last minute on September 6.

He decided to run the pizza in himself - and ended up serving up some rough justice instead, CBS 2 reported.

Hero: Napoleon Harris III, an Illinois senator and former linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings, was delivering a pizza to help out the staff of the franchise he owns when he was attacked

Suspects: Malik Mayer (left) and Lawrence Hines (right) and two others allegedly tried to rob Harris - but he fought off all four attackers and chased them from the scene in his car

Harris had offered to deliver the pizza because his crew was 'overwhelmed' - and as the robbers were about to learn, Harris is a tough guy to overwhelm.

He arrived at the house, on the 15800 block of Paulina Avenue in Harvey around three miles his pizza parlor, to find one of the robbers on the porch.

As Harris entered the property, though, three others sprang from the bushes in the front yard and attempted to overwhelm him. They failed. Dramatically.

'They put a chokehold on the senator, but to no avail,' Sean Howard, a spokesman for both Harris and the local PD, said. 'They were really trying to choke him to death, and he was just too strong. He out-powered all four of them.'

'As they were all beating on him, one guy just went out of his way and really hit him hard, and Napoleon never moved.

'He just looked at him like Hulk Hogan, and from that the guys knew that we better get out of here, because we can't get this guy down.'

Senator: Harris (pictured) followed the attackers to a timber yard. They fled but their car was linked to the murder of a Georgia man and police began tracking them

The men managed to take Harris's wallet and the pizza, then fled in a Chevy Tahoe and Harris gave chase, tracking them to a lumber mill and calling in cops.

They managed to escape but left behind the Tahoe, which was registered to Lester Jones, a man who was later found dead in Georgia.

Thanks to Harris's descriptions of his attackers, police were able to track down all four suspects.

Malik Mayer was charged with murder and financial transaction card fraud after allegedly using Jones's card in an ATM on September 15.

Lawrence Hines was found in a Georgia mental institution and charged in relation to the murder later in the month; he is also accused of allegedly kidnapping and torturing a man in 2015.

A third person, a juvenile who cannot be identified, was also arrested in September.

And the fourth man, from Gary, Indiana, is expected to face charges in relation to Harris's attack.

Harris is a gun owner, Howard said, but didn't have his firearm during the delivery as he had been driving with his daughter earlier in the day and doesn't like having the weapon around her.