PEARLAND, Texas — A Pearland business is helping support a Missouri City police officer who was shot in the face by a carjacking suspect last week.
Grazia Italian Kitchen opened a drive-through breakfast taco stand outside their restaurant over the weekend.
The money that was raised from selling breakfast tacos and t-shirts will go to help Officer Crystal Sepulveda as she continues to recover.
"To have a business like Grazia's step up, and say hey now we have our back and we're going to do all we can to make it easier on a family and support our law enforcement, it means the world to us," Missouri City Captain Jazton Heard said.
According to Heard, he says Sepulveda's recovery is going well, and said that she even wanted to attend the fundraiser.
Heard described Sepulveda as a "strong warrior."
What happened
The incident started when Sepulveda and other officers spotted a car that had been reported stolen during a carjacking in northwest Harris County.
Sepulveda and the other officers tried to pull the car over in southwest Harris County, but the driver led them on a chase.
Eventually, the suspect stopped the car and bailed on foot. Police said the suspect ran to the backyard of a house, and when Sepulveda got to the backyard to try to find him, he opened fire -- striking her three times.
"She went down immediately...struck in the face by a bullet," Missouri City Police Chief Michael Berezin said. "Then (she) was able to struggle back to her feet."
Officers took Sepulveda to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, where she was treated for her injuries.
Berezin said Sepulveda was shot in the face, left calf, and left toe. The bullet that hit her in the face shattered her cheek and exited through her ear. She recently underwent reconstructive surgery.
The police chief said the suspect had two automatic handguns on him when he was shot. The suspect was shot by a Harris County deputy and a DPS State Trooper.