‘Help me.’ Quick-thinking McDonald’s employees assist woman trapped by abusive boyfriend
The quick action of employees at a Lodi McDonald’s helped a woman escape from her abusive boyfriend this week, authorities say.
The woman entered the McDonald’s off of Interstate 5 and Highway 12 on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, told an employee at the counter to call 911 and asked if they could hide her, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.
She also gave the employee the license plate number of the vehicle she and her boyfriend were traveling in.
Deputy Andrea Lopez said the woman and her boyfriend were heading south on I-5 from Sacramento to visit his parents in Atwater when at some point he threatened to shoot her.
Lopez said the victim told deputies he’d been abusive in the past and that there was a gun in the trunk.
Fearing for her life, the victim told her boyfriend she needed to use the restroom so she pulled over at the McDonald’s and alerted the employee, who called authorities. The area is a popular stop for travelers, particularly truckers. It includes gas stations, motels and restaurants.
The victim used the restroom but when she got out, Lopez said her boyfriend was inside the restaurant. She tried to place an order at the counter to stall but he wouldn’t let her, insisting they use the drive-thru.
While they were in the drive-thru the victim mouthed ‘help me’ to another employee.
“Just then, deputies arrived and spoke with employees inside the restaurant, they rushed them out the door telling them that the woman needing help was in the drive-thru line,” according to a Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies pulled over the vehicle and detained the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Eduardo Valenzuela.
Valenzuela was booked in the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of making criminal threats, possessing stolen property and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
This story was originally published December 26, 2019 at 12:19 PM.
