McDonald's employees in California helped rescue a woman who mouthed "help me" in a drive-thru window from a man who threatened to kill her on Christmas Eve, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post.
The unidentified woman had first entered the McDonald's in Lodi, Calif., about 70 miles east of San Francisco, and told employees behind the counter to call 911. She gave them the license plate number of the vehicle she arrived in and asked them to hide her, police wrote.
When she exited the bathroom and attempted to place an order, the suspect in the case, Eduardo Valenzuela, demanded she use the drive-thru.
Once there the woman, in the driver's seat, mouthed "help me" to the employees inside, cops said. At that time, police arrived and ordered her to pull over.
The woman told the cops that Valenzuela had physically abused her in the past and that day had threatened to kill her if she wouldn't drive him to visit his family for Christmas Eve. Police found an unlicensed firearm in the car.
Valenzuela was charged with criminal threats, possession of stolen property and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
