Two Monrovia police officers found themselves in the right place at the right time when a wanted suspect walked into the Panda Express where they were eating lunch.
Video shared by the Monrovia Police Department shows the uniformed officers seated at a table when they appear to recognize the man as he enters the restaurant.
The officers quickly signal to each other before getting up and approaching him. Moments later, they tackle the suspect to the floor and take him into custody.
The unexpected arrest unfolded during what had otherwise been a routine lunch break for the officers. Rather than responding to a call or conducting a planned operation, the officers encountered the wanted man while they were inside the restaurant.
The video shows the officers noticing the suspect and communicating with one another before moving toward him. Their response appears immediate, with the encounter quickly turning into an arrest inside the restaurant.
Police said officers had previously tried to arrest the suspect on two separate occasions, but he managed to escape both times.
That history made the chance encounter particularly significant for the department. After two previous attempts ended with the suspect getting away, officers were finally able to take him into custody when they happened to encounter him during their meal.
This time, however, there was nowhere to run.
The department highlighted the unusual circumstances of the arrest when it shared the footage with the public. “Third time’s a charm,” the Monrovia Police Department wrote on social media while posting the video.
The comment referred to the two previous attempts to arrest the suspect and the successful third encounter inside the Panda Express.
According to the department, the officers had already made efforts to locate and arrest the man before recognizing him inside the restaurant. The video appears to capture the moment they realize who had walked through the door and quickly shift from taking a break to making an arrest.
The situation also demonstrates how police officers can encounter wanted individuals unexpectedly while away from an active call. In this case, the officers did not have to travel to another location to find the suspect because he walked directly into the restaurant where they were eating.
The arrest was completed quickly after the officers approached him. The footage shows the suspect being brought to the floor before officers took him into custody.
Police did not immediately provide details about the suspect’s identity or what he was wanted for. Because those details were not released, it is not clear what charges or alleged offenses led officers to seek his arrest.
The department also did not immediately provide additional information about the two previous attempts to take the suspect into custody, including where those encounters occurred or how he managed to escape.
The lack of additional information means the circumstances surrounding the original warrant or wanted status remain unclear.
Still, the Monrovia Police Department used the unusual arrest to emphasize the unpredictable nature of police work. Officers who had simply stopped for lunch ended up recognizing a person they had previously attempted to arrest.
The department joked that the officers’ lunch break may have been cut short, but the unexpected encounter finally brought their search for the suspect to an end.
The incident also attracted attention because of the unusual setting. Instead of an arrest occurring during a traffic stop, investigation or planned operation, the suspect was spotted inside a fast-food restaurant while the officers were sitting at a table.
For the officers, the encounter turned an ordinary meal into an opportunity to take a wanted suspect into custody.
For the department, it became an example of how persistence and awareness can pay off even when an arrest does not happen according to plan.
No injuries were reported in the information provided about the arrest, and police did not release additional details about what happened to the suspect after he was taken into custody.
The Monrovia Police Department’s video gives viewers a look at the brief encounter, from the moment officers appear to recognize the suspect to the moment they take him into custody.
The department’s lighthearted caption, “Third time’s a charm,” underscored the fact that the successful arrest came after two earlier attempts.
For now, the suspect’s identity and the underlying reason he was wanted remain undisclosed.
The unusual Panda Express encounter ultimately ended a search that had already involved multiple attempts to make an arrest — proving that sometimes a routine lunch break can turn into an unexpected police operation.