A suspect in a carjacking, robbery, and high-speed chase from Bakersfield to the Los Angeles area fired a shot into a local Jack in the Box restaurant after an employee thought the ordeal was a joke, according to a Bakersfield Police Department report obtained by 23ABC News.
The report suggests Arturo Gonzalez called a taxi to take him to Simi Valley in the early morning hours of Thursday, February 23; officials say he threatened to kill the driver at a home on Chinta Drive in Southwest Bakersfield, then stole the victim's Toyota Camry.
Police say Gonzalez then went to a Jack in the Box restaurant on Taft Highway, entered the drive-thru and pointed a gun through the driver's side window and demanded money from a female employee.
"She thought it was a joke and verbally stated 'Is this a joke,'" the police report said. "She stated the subject became very irate, pointed the weapon upward towards the drive-thru ceiling and fired one round from the weapon and stated 'No! This is not a joke!"
No one was injured at Jack in the Box, though officers describe employees as being distraught after the shot was fired. Gonzalez got away with $150, the report shows.
BPD officers caught up with Gonzalez headed south on Highway 99 from Taft Highway, and a pursuit ensued, reaching speed up to 110 miles per hour until California Highway Patrol crews took over in the Ft. Tejon area.
Officers say Gonzalez threw the "Benelli, 12 gauge, Supernova, pump style shotgun, with a camoflage wrap" out of the car during the pursuit while on Interstate 5, just south of Templin Highway.
The CHP said Gonzalez kept heading south on I-5 until he reached I-10 in Downtown Los Angeles, then headed west at speeds of up to 114 mph. He drove onto Pacific Coast Highway, where he ended up at a gas station in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where he was ultimately arrested.
Police said Gonzalez had shotgun shells in the car at the time of the arrest.
Gonzalez was brought back to the Bakersfield, where he faces several criminal charges, including carjacking, robbery, reckless evading, and driving while license suspended/revoked for DUI, according to Kern County Superior Court. He has since pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on March 9.
