A food truck worker was shot and injured as he and others were closing up for the night in southwest Little Rock, according to police.
The Little Rock Police Department responded around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday to a report of an attempted robbery at 7521 Geyer Springs Road, where Samantha Taqueria II had set up in a parking lot to serve customers.
According to a report, two witnesses said they were cleaning with the victim, 38-year-old Primitivo Bautista of Little Rock, inside the taco truck when two people entered the vehicle.
At least one of the assailants pointed a small, black gun with an extended magazine at the workers while demanding money, police said.
The food-truck employees then told the would-be robbers that they did not have any money inside the taco truck, and had placed the cash inside the nearby Dulceria Clarissa store, the report states.
Citing a language barrier, one of the witnesses said he had a hard time explaining to the assailants that he would need to return to the truck to get the keys to the locked building, the report said.
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The witness said that when he walked toward the truck, another witness sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot put that vehicle in reverse. That prompted at least one of the would-be robbers to say, "They are going to call the cops," the report said.
Police say both assailants ran toward an apartment behind a gas station across the street while shooting the gun about three or four times. One bullet struck Bautista in the chest, the report states.
Bautista was taken to CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, according to police.
The extent of his injuries was not immediately clear Wednesday morning, though a responding officer noted that the victim was unable to provide a statement "due to the severity of his injury."
One robber was described as a black man in his mid-20s who stood between 6 feet and 6 feet 6 inches tall and has a thin build. He was wearing a black or dark brown shirt, dark pants and white tennis shoes at the time, authorities said.
The other assailant was listed as a black man in his early 20s who stands between 5 feet and 5 feet 6 inches tall. He was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt during the robbery.
No arrests had been made at the time of the report.