VIDEO: Man puts McDonald’s worker in a headlock after falsely claiming to be ICE officer, police say

A man who allegedly claimed to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was arrested after he assaulted workers at a McDonald’s restaurant in Southern California.

Joshua Cobb, 44, walked into the La Jolla McDonald’s on Nobel Drive on Thursday at about noon and put the manager in a headlock, according to a press release from the San Diego Police Department.

‘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?’

The manager was described as a Hispanic male by Lt. Cesar Jimenez, who said that Cobb accused him of being an illegal alien.

Cobb led the man outside the restaurant while claiming he was being arrested, but the other workers came to his aid and forced Cobb to release him.

Police were able to identify and arrest Cobb, according to Jimenez, who was charged with impersonating an officer as well as battery.

The manager, Daniel Martinez, spoke to KGTV-TV and described what happened.

“He grabbed me from the back, grabbed my neck, like, really hard,” Martinez said. “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.”

The employees at the McDonald’s said they didn’t believe the man was an ICE officer because he frequented the fast food place, would only order sodas, and would leave a mess.

“Why do you think your 911 phone calls aren’t f**king working?” said the man police identified as Cobb. “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?”

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Jimenez also addressed the videos circulating online about the incident.

“There are several videos of this incident circulating online,” he said. “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 hurt during the attack.

“At that moment, my first reaction was just to protect my crew because I’m in charge of all of them,” the manager said.

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