Driver Speeds Into Chicken Eatery; Police Pluck Him

Officers said they were not sure what Joe Rex Walters was after when he turned into the drive-through chicken restaurant at Beach Boulevard and Ball Road in Anaheim Monday,

He had five pursuing police cars only a few feet behind, so it’s unlikely he planned to place an order, they said.

Nonetheless, he wheeled into the may-I-have-your-order-please lane and encountered what so many customers encounter at such restaurants: a customer ahead in line. The obstruction forced Walters to swerve over a curb, which blew one of the car’s tires and put it into a spin. When the engine died, officers arrested Walters, 38, of Garden Grove, on suspicion of robbing a teller at the Security Pacific National Bank branch in Cypress and making off with about $600 in cash.

During the approximately five-mile chase, Walters fired a shot at the pursuing police cars but no one was hit, police said.

Police said they expected to recover the stolen money and the suspect’s gun after they receive a federal search warrant today and search the suspect’s car.

Cypress police, who were assisted by Stanton and Anaheim officers, credited Cypress Patrolman Patrick Thayer with the capture.

Sgt. Rick Hobbs said that as the suspect drove by Thayer, the officer recognized him from the description broadcast soon after the robbery: “Male white adult, 30 years old, 5-foot-5, 130 pounds, unshaven with brown hair, dark plaid shirt, dark blue jacket and yellow teeth.”