SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A brave move by a local restaurant worker who helped out authorities during a standoff with a driver Saturday morning.
"We didn't know if he was going to come in the restaurant, we didn't know what state of mind he was in," Jenn Greif, San Diego Home Cooking Mission Valley Café said.
California Highway Patrol officers believe the driver may have been under the influence of drugs when he went through construction barriers and began acting erratically in the parking lot of a Mission Valley restaurant.
CHP officers say a black Honda drove through a closed-off construction area on 163 North and then when officers tried to stop the driver, he got on Interstate 8 East and then parked at the San Diego Home Cooking Mission Valley Cafe.
"His behavior due to possibly drugs or mental illness was very erratic," Sgt. Jim McNamara, California Highway Patrol said.
Greif said she saw an opportunity to do something and just sprang into action.
"He charged the police officer and started pounding on the hood of the car, and that's when I ran out and hopped in the car and grabbed the keys," Greif said.
The driver was placed on a stretcher and taken to a local area hospital for treatment.
Greif's co-workers say she's a fast thinker and definitely saved the day.
"It was the scariest thing I've ever done, but it worked out okay," she said.