College student grabs a spatula to disarm attacker at In-N-Out
Opperman had just placed his order and pulled up to the second drive-thru window when he heard what he described as 'super loud banging' from inside
Waiting in a late-night drive-thru usually calls for nothing more than patience. But for 20-year-old college student Luca Opperman, a stop at an In-N-Out Burger in Lake Elsinore, California, turned into something far more serious. While waiting for his food, Opperman heard loud banging coming from inside the restaurant and saw a woman swinging a large wooden stick near the counter. When she began moving toward employees in the back of the restaurant, he decided to intervene. The former parkour instructor and freestyle trampoline athlete jumped feet-first through the drive-thru window and grabbed the first thing he could find — a metal spatula. What happened next was just incredible, as reported by KTLA 5 (@ktla) on September 4, 2026 in a video that has since been viewed over 913,000 times.
Chaos erupts in the lobby
The incident unfolded at an In-N-Out in Lake Elsinore at around 1 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Times. Opperman had just placed his order and pulled up to the second drive-thru window when he heard what he described as “super loud banging” from inside. He looked up and saw a woman repeatedly striking the counter with a large wooden stick that he said was roughly the size of a baseball bat. “I look up and just see this lady, she has this baseball bat-sized stick, basically like a tree branch, and she’s overhead smashing it on top of a counter,” Opperman recalled. Employees had moved toward the back of the restaurant as the woman continued advancing toward them.
The drive-thru leap
Opperman initially yelled at the woman to leave the restaurant. Instead, he said, she opened the divider separating the lobby from the kitchen and began moving toward the employees in the back. That was when he acted. He jumped feet-first through the drive-thru window and grabbed the first object within reach — a metal spatula. “Thinking about it now, I probably would have been better off with a fryer basket, but it happened so fast,” he told the Los Angeles Times.
Confrontation behind the counter
Holding the spatula, Opperman repeatedly told the woman to leave. She allegedly swung the wooden stick at him, and the two briefly faced off behind the counter. When she turned away, Opperman saw an opportunity. “That’s when you see me going, and I go in with the shoulder drop,” he said in his interview with KTLA. Opperman shoulder-checked the woman and managed to take the stick away from her. Riverside County sheriff’s deputies later found the woman outside the restaurant and detained her without incident.
Authorities identified her as 53-year-old Antonieta Sanchez of Redlands. She was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism and brandishing a weapon. No injuries were reported. Opperman credited his years of parkour, freestyle trampolining, and rugby with helping him react quickly. He had also previously worked in fast food, which he said influenced his decision to step in. His bravery had a few bystanders dub him as Spider-Man.
Violence against fast food workers
Opperman's concern for the workers also reflects a broader workplace-safety issue documented among fast-food employees. A UCLA Labor Center study of fast-food workers in Los Angeles County found that 37% had experienced some form of workplace violence, including threats, racial slurs, physical assaults, and robberies. The report found that 25% had experienced threats, 24% racial slurs, 10% assaults, and 4% robberies. The same study found that 43% of workers had experienced an injury or illness during the previous year. Among those injuries, 7% involved being assaulted by a customer or co-worker. Workers who had been injured also faced financial consequences: four in 10 said the injury had made it difficult to pay their bills.
'Somebody raised this young man the right way'
This is exactly why people were truly impressed by Opperman's heroics. @RFernandez18 noted, "20 years old and braver than most... also fit. Excellent person. We need more of him!!" At the same time, @lamkinmedia wrote, "Somebody raised this young man the right way. Fearless. Glad he was able to subdue this woman who clearly has some serious mental issues. Pray that she gets the help she needs. Grateful for this young man's bravery and that it all ended well."
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