Man arrested for carjacking San Francisco vehicle, crashing in San Mateo
SAN MATEO, Calif. - San Francisco police have arrested a 28-year-old man after he allegedly carjacked a Toyota Prius in that city and, about 20 minutes later, was injured when the car wrecked on U.S. Highway 101 in San Mateo, police officers said.
Valentine Sua of Hayward was booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of carjacking, robbery, conspiracy and receiving stolen property, San Francisco police said Sunday night.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, officers from the San Francisco Police Department's Ingleside Station responded to the area of Velasco Avenue and Santos Street in the Sunnydale neighborhood on a report of a carjacking. A 36-year-old man told police he had been flagged down by a man who said he needed help jump-starting his car. San Francisco police said the suspect walked to the driver's side door and told the driver to get out. The suspect then struck the victim, at which point the victim got out of his car. The suspect, as well as a second unknown man, got in the car and fled.
At about 5:15 p.m., the Prius was headed south on U.S. Highway 101 near the state Highway 92 interchange when it veered out of control and flipped, landing in the traffic lanes, San Mateo police Officer Michael Haobsh said Sunday. The injured suspect, later identified as Sua, then ran from the accident scene down 16th Avenue west to South Delaware Street. Near the post office on Delaware Street, about three-quarters of a mile from the crash scene, the suspect entered a recreational vehicle where people were living, Haobsh said. Police found him there a short time later and arrested him.
Haobsh said it wasn't clear whether there was a second person in the car when the wreck occurred in San Mateo.
Sua was treated for injuries suffered in the wreck before he was booked into the San Francisco jail. Sua also will face charges from the California Highway Patrol and from San Mateo police, Haobsh said.