McDonald's Employees Assist Woman After She Mouths 'Help Me' In Drive-Thru

Source: Joe Raedle / Getty

McDonald’s Employees Take Care Of Woman Mouthing ‘Help Me’ In Drive-Thru

A woman in California was able to escape from a dangerous situation on Christmas Eve–all thanks to the quick thinking of some caring McDonald’s employees.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office shared the story on social media, recalling the dramatic incident that went down on Friday. In a facebook post, the police department shared details on how the woman alerted staff at the McDonald’s in Lodi, California that she needed help after the man she was traveling with allegedly threatened her life.

At about 2 p.m., the woman in question entered the restaurant and asked an employee at the counter to call 911. That’s when she provided the license plate of the car she was riding in and asked workers to to hide her.

“After the woman used the restroom, she attempted to place an order at the counter, but the suspect, Eduardo Valenzuela, was nearby and demanded she use the drive-thru,” the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s office revealed in a Facebook post. Once the woman made it to the drive-thru, she mouthed “help me” to an employee. An unidentified McDonald’s worker told CBS13 that the manager told all of their employees to hold up the drive-thru line so that the police had time to get to the scene.

Luckily for the woman in need and others looking for assistants, the restaurant is a participant in the “Safe Place” initiative, which provides training to employees to assist vulnerable people in need of immediate help and safety.

When deputies arrived, they instructed the victim–who was driving–to pull over while Valenzuela was in the passenger seat.

That’s when the woman told police that he had been violent with her in the past and ordered her to drive him to visit his family on Christmas Eve, saying he threatened her life and said that he would use a gun. A stolen firearm was located in the trunk of the vehicle.

Now, Valenzuela is facing charges of making criminal threats, possessing stolen property, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.