Flag City McDonald's Employees Help Rescue Woman Who Mouthed 'Help Me' In Drive-Thru
LODI (CBS13) – Alert McDonald's employees in Lodi are being credited with helping rescue a woman from a scary situation.
The incident happened Christmas Eve at the Flag City McDonald's location.
According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, around 2 p.m., a woman went up to the counter and asked an employee to call 911. She also asked the employee to hide her and gave them the license plate number of the car she came in.
The woman then went to use the restroom. After finishing, she went to try and order something at the counter – but the suspect who apparently brought her there had come in and demanded she use the drive-thru instead.
In the drive-thru, an employee saw the woman mouth "help me." By this time, deputies had shown up and employees informed them of the situation.
The deputies quickly rushed over and pulled the car, which was being driven by the woman, over.
Deputies started comforting the woman and were able to figure out what led up to the situation: The man, identified as Eduardo Valenzuela, had order the woman to take him to visit his family. Valenzuela had allegedly been violent with the woman in the past, and on this day he's accused of threatening the woman's life.
A firearm that had been reported stolen from out of state was later found by deputies in the trunk of the car.
Valenzuela was arrested and booked into San Joaquin County Jail. He's facing charges of making criminal threats, possessing stolen property, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.