Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: A registered sex offender has been trespassed from a local fast-food restaurant after becoming too friendly with a juvenile female worker and giving her a card with $200 in it.
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – A registered sex offender who “attempted to befriend” a 17-year-old female fast-food restaurant worker has been trespassed from the restaurant.
According to a Safford Police report, the girl told her father that over the course of the past few weeks the same customer has come in and made her feel uncomfortable by paying too much attention to her. She said she had been polite to the man but that he had touched her hand once while getting his food and had also hugged her.
Then, on Monday, May 14, the man gave her a card with $200 in cash inside. The father then looked up the man, identified as Raul Edward Gallegos, 51, of Safford, and learned he was a registered sex offender who was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.
The father handed over the card and cash to an officer and requested he return the present to Gallegos and tell him to not have any further contact with his daughter.
The officer spoke with the manager of the fast-food restaurant about the situation, and the manager requested Gallegos be trespassed from the property.
The officer then contacted Gallegos as his residence and returned the gift. He also advised Gallegos that he had been trespassed from the restaurant and if he returned he would be arrested.
According to the report, Gallegos became upset at the news and said he only wanted to be friends with the juvenile female.
