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A Santa Paula woman who had been released from jail just days before was arrested Friday evening after a man waiting in line at an Oxnard drive-thru restaurant said she jumped into his vehicle and robbed him at knifepoint.

According to a statement by Oxnard Police, the incident occurred October 19 at about 10:20 p.m. when the unidentified victim was sitting in the drive-thru of El Pollo Loco, located on the 100 block of West Vineyard Avenue at the corner of Oxnard Boulevard. The victim told police he’d been sitting in the drive-thru line of the restaurant when a woman opened the door to his vehicle, jumped in, brandished a knife, and demanded money. 

The man handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and his cell phone, and when the woman got out of his vehicle he saw her get into a tan GMC pickup. The GMC pickup drove away and then entered the 101 Freeway.

The vehicle was stopped near the 101-Highway 126 interchange and the female suspect, Nicole Martin, 27 of Santa Paula, was taken into custody. The victim identified Martin as the woman who had robbed him at knifepoint.

Jail records showed Martin had been released from jail five days earlier after serving time for a previous felony conviction. Court records indicate Martin has a number of prior convictions, both felony and misdemeanor, for everything from petty theft to commercial burglary, vandalism, forgery, and grand theft.

Oxnard Police investigators questioned the male driver of the GMC pickup and determined him not to have been involved in the robbery. Martin was charged with suspicion of armed robbery and taken to Ventura County Jail. Her bail was set at $80,000.