YUBA CITY, Calif. (KTVU) - A man who risked his life trying to save a woman and her baby from an abusive boyfriend in Yuba City is in a medically induced coma.
According to KTXL, on Friday 45-year-old Elias Garibay stopped at Tortilleria Flores to grab some dinner.
Garibay's son Benjamin Lozano told the news outlet that while his father was inside, a woman with her young child ran into the restaurant seeking refuge from her abusive lover.
Lozano said, "My father, hearing what was going on, kind of stepped in front of the guy and said, ‘Let's get out of here, man. Don't be here for this.' They had a small fight outside and the gentleman ran off.”
The man came back again, but this time with a gun, KTXL reports.
“Fired the weapon three times inside of the restaurant and the last bullet hit my father in the head,” Lozano said.
The California Highway Patrol took 35-year-old Victor Esquivel into custody early Saturday morning in Newhall. Officers believe he was heading to Mexico.
“That’s kind of the most important thing to us that he’s not out there hurting anybody else or causing any other family the pain that we’re going through,” Megan Lozano, Garibay’s daughter-in-law, told KTXL.
Lonzo is an active duty military member stationed in Seattle and he hasn't been able to see his father in years. He said now he hopes he can get one more chance to tell his father how much he loves him.
Garibay’s family has started a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses.