:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2)/Fraser-Winter-Park-Police-Department-car-020226-e419cad1e8ab4237a8ed71484b435d9e.jpg "Alleged Dine-and-Dashers Tracked Down by Restaurant Staff and Choked and Threatened with a Gun: Police
By Charmaine Patterson")
NEED TO KNOW
- A male and female ordered $100 worth of food at a restaurant at a Colorado restaurant and allegedly left without paying
- Two restaurant staffers allegedly followed the customers out of the store, and confronted them, with one worker allegedly brandishing a gun and another putting the male customer in a chokehold, local police said
- Both restaurant workers have been charged with second-degree assault – strangulation, according to authorities
Two Colorado restaurant staffers have been arrested and are facing assault charges after allegedly confronting two customers who they suspected of skipping out on a $100 tab.
Fraser, Colo., residents Ezequiel Villa Penaloza, 50, and Juan Narvaez Castro, 23, were each booked on a felony second-degree assault-strangulation charge after allegedly following the restaurant customers, a male and female, out of the eatery and threatening them with a handgun, the Fraser Winter Park Police Department said in a release.
On Sunday, Feb. 1, the restaurant patrons, who have not been publicly identified, ordered $100 worth of food and allegedly left without paying their bill, police said.
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Police allege that Penaloza and Castro followed the man and woman onto a bus at Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply. The restaurant workers then allegedly approached them after they got off at a Stop and Save convenience store, according to authorities.
Penazola, who is also facing a felony menacing charge, allegedly brandished a handgun and aimed it at the male and female, while Castro allegedly put the male suspect in a chokehold, KDVR reported. They were booked at Grand County Jail.
The two who allegedly left the restaurant, which has not been publicly named, were cited for petty theft and violating a protection order, according to police.
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“All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court,” The Fraser Winter Park Police Department said in its social media release. “Community safety remains our top priority.”
PEOPLE reached out to the Fraser Winter Park Police Department.
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