EVERETT — A fleeing car theft suspect crashed into a local restaurant Thursday morning in Everett.
Johnathan Orozco Cardenas, co-owner of Los Novillos Family Mexican Restaurant, 4131 Rucker Ave., was preparing to open for lunch around 10:55 a.m. when he heard a loud “boom.”
“I was in the back getting ready to open up, and I heard a big boom,” Cardenas said. “My cousin, the bus girl, saw everything. She starting yelling, ‘Help! Johnny, come!”
When Cardenas and other members of his family came to the front of the restaurant, they found a woman had crashed into the restaurant, hard enough to damage to the front door, wall and part of the patio.
Their first reaction was to help.
“My dad was the first one to come out,” Cardenas said, “He got out of the door and realized there was a bunch of cops. It was 15, 20 seconds of everything. We were told to go back inside. Guns pointing at us. ‘Get back inside!’”
According to Cardenas, approximately 15 law enforcement officers were on the scene within seconds, arresting the driver.
“We got an automatic license plate reader hit for a stolen car by a neighboring jurisdiction,” police spokesperson Natalie Given explained Thursday afternoon.
Given said that the stolen car was being picked up by the city’s Flock cameras and multiple attempts by officers in unmarked vehicles to use a StarChase GPS device to track the car did not work.
“She crashed into the building and attempted to flee again but was ultimately stopped by us and our law enforcement partners at the Sheriff’s office,” Given added. “We were not in a pursuit, nor was the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. She was taken to the hospital and then booked.”
Contrary to rumors about the incident on social media, the large police presence had nothing to do with a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“It’s easy to assume with everything that’s going on right now but please inform yourself well before posting …,” the family posted on its Facebook page.
“I understand how unmarked units may have seemed jarring due to the current climate, but we have plenty of law enforcement officers who work in unmarked vehicles,” Given said of the online rumors.
The family also posted that they “are trying to take everything with a good mood like we always try to” and that they are open for business per usual, though the patio will not be open anytime soon.
“We do everything here, you know, from owning the place to work in the place, and we just love what we do,” Cardenas said.
The woman was booked into Snohomish County Jail for investigation of attempting to elude and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Aaron Kennedy: 425-257-7444; aaron.kennedy@heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
