Woman Saved After Mouthing "Help Me" At CA McDonald's Drive-Thru

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA — A woman was saved from potential domestic abuse after she pulled into a California McDonald's drive-thru and mouthed "help me" to employees, who called the police, the San Joaquin County sheriff's office said.

The woman was traveling Tuesday with a man who had a history of abusing her, and who had threatened her with a firearm that day, CNN reported. After stopping inside the McDonald's, the woman tried to get help at the counter by telling an employee her license number and asking them to hider her, but the man demanded that they use the drive-thru instead, according to CNN.

At the drive-thru, the woman asked an employee to help her, and soon after, deputies arrived and found the woman in the driver's seat of the car with the suspect, Eduardo Valenzuela, in the passenger seat. Deputies arrested Valenzuela and found a stolen firearm in the trunk, police said.

Valenzuela was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of criminal threats, stolen property and being a felon in possession of a handgun.