A California man who allegedly posed as a federal immigration officer was taken into custody after violently confronting staff at a McDonalds in an apparent attempt to conduct his own arrest of a Hispanic manager he accused of being in the country illegally.
According to The Blaze, 44-year-old Joshua Cobb entered the McDonalds on Nobel Drive in La Jolla around midday Thursday, where police say he put the restaurants manager in a headlock while claiming to be with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a press release, the San Diego Police Department said Cobb allegedly targeted the manager, identified as Daniel Martinez, while shouting, Why do you think I'm willing to take two punches in the motherf**king face with some illegal immigrants while I make an arrest for Immigration and Customs Enforcement?
Lt. Cesar Jimenez of the San Diego Police Department said Martinez, a Hispanic male, was accused by Cobb of being an illegal alien as the suspect tried to drag him outside the restaurant under the guise of making an immigration arrest. Other employees quickly intervened, pulling Cobb away from Martinez and forcing him to release the manager before the situation escalated further.
Police later identified and arrested Cobb, Jimenez said, charging him with impersonating an officer and battery, a reminder that vigilantism and false claims of authority have no place in a nation governed by the rule of law. Martinez, speaking to KGTV-TV, recounted the moment the confrontation turned physical, saying, He grabbed me from the back, grabbed my neck, like, really hard, and, So when that happened, all my co-workers jumped on him, and he let go, but after that, he just punched me on the side.
Employees told reporters they doubted Cobbs claim that he was an ICE officer, noting that he was a familiar face who often came in, ordered only sodas, and left a mess behind. In video from the incident, the man identified by police as Cobb can be heard yelling, Why do you think your 911 phone calls aren't f**king working? and repeating, Why do you think I'm willing to take two punches in the motherf**king face with some illegal immigrants while I make an arrest for Immigration and Customs Enforcement?
Lt. Jimenez acknowledged public concern over the footage, saying, There are several videos of this incident circulating online, and adding, We understand how concerning this can be for members of our community. We want to assure residents that impersonating a law enforcement officer is a crime and the San Diego Police Department takes any reports of this nature very seriously. Martinez said he was not injured in the attack and emphasized his sense of responsibility for his staff, explaining, At that moment, my first reaction was just to protect my crew because I'm in charge of all of them.
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