A simple trip to a fast-food restaurant can be a heart-pounding experience in Florida.
One woman learned the hard way about taking matters into her own hands.
And a Florida mom ended up in a scary situation when this trip to Popeyes went wrong.
Florida mom sets up a sting operation on a man preying on her teen daughter
An unidentified Florida mom decided to take action when she discovered that 18-year-old Cerry Rodriques Banks engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her 13-year-old daughter via text message.
The mom pretended to be her daughter through text messages after taking her phone to set up a meeting with Banks to confront him about the relationship.
They agreed to meet at a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday.
For some reason, the Florida mom decided to take her 11-year-old son and daughter with her to confront Banks.
Banks was furious that he was tricked at the rendezvous and brandished a gun at the family.
“When you hear the shots tonight, you know what’s up,” Banks told the mom.
She grabbed her family and sprinted inside the Popeyes after the threat.
The store called 911 on Banks.
Gun-toting thug has a nasty run-in with the police
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Chief of Investigations Alan Parker said that officers arrived at the Popeyes after about 30 minutes and found Banks hanging around outside the fast-food restaurant.
“As our officers arrived on scene, the suspect was still standing by the business… he had plenty of time to leave,” Parker said.
The police asked him to put his hands up but he ignored their verbal commands.
It all went wrong for Banks from there.
“[Banks] slowly turns his back to the officer and he takes off running around the back of the business,” Parker explained. “So, the officer takes off in a foot pursuit. As he hits the corner, he sees the suspect pull the pistol from his waistband. He yells for him, ‘Drop, stop, gun, gun, gun,’ engages suspect; he [the officer] shoots multiple times.”
“The suspect continues around the neighboring business, then drops the gun,” Parker continued. “He continues running. The officer tracks him and loses sight of him.”
Officers surrounded the area they thought he was in and called in the K-9 unit.
They found Banks in a drainage tunnel with gunshot wounds to the chest and hand.
“You never know what’s going to happen. Luckily, he didn’t shoot them. So, you never know what somebody is going to do when their back is against the wall,” Parker said.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters understood that the mom wanted to protect her daughter but urged residents to let the authorities handle these situations.
“This is a mother who was concerned about her daughter,” Waters said. “So, I get it. I understand. But I would say that in most cases in situations like that, call us and have us deal with the situation so it doesn’t unfold like this.”
Banks was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, lewd and lascivious conduct by an offender over 18 against a victim less than 16, illegal use of a two-way communication device, and traveling to meet after using a computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
