McDonald's workers busy taking orders notice customer mouthing 'help me' at drive-thru — it saved her life

The servers at a McDonald's outlet turned into saviors for a woman who felt threatened by a man accompanying her.

UPDATED JAN 5, 2025

(L) A woman ordering through the drive-thru window of an eatery ; (R) The McDonald's drive-thru signboard | Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | (L) and (R) Carolina Cagnin

Being aware of our surroundings is one of the best things we can do to stay safe. Yet, many individuals with ill intentions end up targeting women in public places as well. According to ABC News, a woman in Lodi, California arrived at a local McDonald's drive-thru outlet with danger lurking behind her. It was the Christmas Eve of 2019 when the incident took place. The scared lady went up to the servers at the McDonald's outlet and revealed her fearful situation to them, seeking immediate help.

A glowing logo of the McDonald's drive-thru outlet (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Mikechie Esparagoza)

According to KABC, the woman asked the employees at the fast food outlet to help her hide from a man she was apparently traveling with. The unnamed lady also confessed that she was getting threatened by the man with her and was afraid for her safety. She ended up giving a license plate number to the workers at McDonald's who told her to hide in the outlet's restroom. The lady came out of the restroom and headed towards the counter to order when a fellow came up to her, demanding that she should move to the drive-thru window of the outlet instead.

via GIPHY

Upon reaching the drive-thru window, the woman mouthed the words "help me" to the employees who were standing to take her order. The servers turned out to be saviors for the lady by holding the drive-thru line until the cops showed up at the scene. According to the news outlet, the information posted on the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page stated that the suspicious man was identified as Eduardo Valenzuela and he was arrested. It was discovered that Valenzuela had been violent with the unnamed woman in the past as well.

A woman sitting down and holding her knees, looking unsettled (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo By: Kaboompics.com)

The sheriff's office's post revealed that Valenzuela had "told her to take him to visit his family and threatened her life, stating he would use a firearm." The said firearm was found in the trunk of the vehicle that was stolen out of the state. Then Valenzuela was booked in the San Joaquin County Jail for criminal threats, stolen property and felony in possession of a firearm. According to The Record, the McDonald's franchise and its employees are part of a "Safe Place" program that includes 30 other McDonald's locations throughout the area of San Joaquin County. Employees, managers and supervisors are trained to help those seeking aid, particularly domestic violence and human trafficking victims.

A male and a female cop standing and looking at something at a distance (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Kindel Media)

Another time, a vigilant Target employee managed to thwart the kidnapping of a 7-year-old kid. The Pittsburg store's security specialist, Roxanna Ramirez, noticed the suspect David Douglas' unusual behavior from the first glimpse. As Ramirez kept an eye on him, his actions started getting more doubtful. The woman followed him in the store for a bit and soon after, she went into the surveillance room to get a better hold on him. However, when Ramirez got news about Douglas kidnapping a 7-year-old girl from her home, the employee didn’t hesitate to call the cops and share all of his details with them. To everyone’s luck, the details she noted made a massive difference in progressing the case and helping locate and nab the man.