NE Bend taco shop robber caught, jailed

A transient armed with a BB handgun and a knife robbed Rigoberto’s Taco Shop in northeast Bend early Tuesday morning, but he didn’t get much – a burrito and a $20 – and didn’t get far, thanks to a worker with a knife and two drive-through customers who called 911, police said.

Luis Jimenez Gonzalez, 49, entered the restaurant at 1913 NE Third Street shortly before 4 a.m. and displayed the BB gun to employee Adrian Rios-Venegas, 35, claiming it was a real gun, said Sgt. Brian Beekman.

Rios-Venegas refused, but eventually gave him a burrito and $20 in an attempt to get him to leave, Beekman said.

The employee also told two people in the drive-through he was being robbed, and both called Deschutes County 911 dispatchers, the sergeant said.

Bend police and sheriff’s deputies rushed to the restaurant, along with Bend police K-9 Haras, and confronted Gonzalez as he ran from the business, taking him into custody.

The BB gun and knife were recovered at the scene, Beekman said, adding that no one was injured.

Rios-Venegas told NewsChannel 21 he’s seen Gonzalez come to the restaurant before.

He was held at the county jail without bail on a parole violation and also faces charges of first-degree robbery, third-degree theft and menacing.