Man accused of impersonating law enforcement officer, attacking McDonald’s manager
By: Ava Kershner
A 40-year-old man was arrested Thursday after allegedly impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and attacking the general manager of a La Jolla McDonald’s restaurant.
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A 40-year-old man was arrested Thursday after allegedly impersonating a law enforcement officer and assaulting the manager of a University City McDonald’s restaurant.
“He grabbed me from, from the back, grabbed my neck like really hard,” said Daniel Martinez, the general manager of the McDonald’s restaurant in the 4200 block of Nobel Drive. “So when that happened, all my coworkers jumped on him, and he let go, but after that, he just punched me on the side.”
Shocking video captured by a witness shows the moment an interaction between a man and the staff at the McDonald’s turned violent.
The San Diego Police Department says around noon on Thursday, a man asked for the restaurant’s manager, then wrapped his arm around the manager’s neck — all under the claim that he was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
“Why do you think your 911 phone calls aren’t ******* working?” said the man in the video, later identified as Joshua Cobb. “Why do you think I’m willing to take two punches in the ************* face with some illegal immigrants while I make an arrest for Immigration and Customs Enforcement?”
Employees at the McDonald’s said they knew he wasn’t with the federal agency and that he actually frequented the location.
Police arrested the 40-year-old Cobb on suspicion of impersonating a police officer and battery.
Martinez is OK and was not seriously injured in the attack.
He has worked at McDonald’s for the past six years, and said despite the potential threat to his life, his number one priority was keeping his employees safe.
“I mean, at that moment, my first reaction was just to protect my crew because I’m in charge of the, all the, all, all of them.”
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