Carl’s Jr. Robbery Suspects Plead Not Guilty in El Cajon Courtroom

Two men accused of holding up the Parkway Drive Carl’s Jr. at gunpoint pleaded not guilty Wednesday to robbery, assault and other charges.

They entered their pleas in East County Superior Court in El Cajon.   

Antonio Terrell Arnold, 31, of La Mesa and Mario Deangelo Townsend, 30, of San Diego allegedly robbed the fast-food outlet at the foot of Marengo Avenue around 8:40 p.m. Sunday. 

Arnold, who has previous criminal convictions, was ordered held on $250,000 bail, while Townsend’s bail was set at $150,000.

The suspects fled on foot after the robbery, police were told. They were spotted in a vehicle about 20 minutes later in the same area by a patrol officer who noticed the men matched the descriptions of the robbers, police said. 

The patrol officer tailed the men’s lime-green Buick onto westbound Interstate 8 and began a brief pursuit that ended on Adobe Falls Road in San Diego with the men’s arrests, police said.  

Police said one of the men threw a handgun from their vehicle on Adobe Falls Road.   

Arnold—said by a former Carl’s Jr. worker to have worked there for more than a year—and Townsend will be back in court Nov. 23 for a readiness conference.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Patricia Cookson also set a preliminary hearing for Dec. 1. 

—City News Service contributed to this report.