Suspect Arrested Following Pepper Spray Incident at San Luis Obispo Food4Less
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA — On Thursday, July 30, 2026, at approximately 11:45 a.m., officers with the San Luis Obispo Police Department responded to a report of a disturbance in the parking lot of a Food 4 Less in the 3900 block of South Higuera Street.
According to law enforcement, a verbal argument occurred between a family of seven—comprising five adults and two juveniles—and an adult male identified as 38-year-old Travis Franco of Bakersfield. During the altercation, an adult victim displayed pepper spray in an effort to distance the family from Franco. Investigators reported that Franco subsequently retrieved pepper spray from his vehicle and discharged it toward the adults and children before fleeing the scene. Emergency medical personnel with San Luis Obispo Fire and San Luis Obispo Ambulance treated the seven individuals at the location.
Following a countywide law enforcement bulletin, officers with the California Highway Patrol and the Port San Luis Harbor Patrol located Franco in Avila Beach. San Luis Obispo Police Department officers arrived to take Franco into custody. During the arrest, officers located an improperly stored firearm inside Franco’s vehicle and seized the weapon under state law. Franco was booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges of felony child abuse, misdemeanor unlawful use of pepper spray, and misdemeanor improper storage of a firearm in a vehicle.
