MEDIA RELEASE / COMMUNITY ALERT
For Immediate Release No. 20220203-009
Thursday February 3, 2022
Car Thief Arrested For Kidnapping
San Mateo Police Department arrested Kiarash Rezaee for driving or taking a vehicle without consent, kidnapping a child under the age of fourteen, and kidnapping.
San Mateo, CA – On Thursday February 3, 2022, at approximately 10:43 a.m., the San Mateo Police Department responded to the area of Palm Avenue and 9th Avenue on the report of a kidnapping. Upon arrival, officers contacted a female, whose vehicle with occupants was stolen after she parked it on the 200 block of 4th Avenue.
SMPD patrol officers started an investigation. Officers promptly learned that the reporting party parked her vehicle with the keys in the ignition. While her mother and one-year-old daughter remained in the vehicle, she and her husband went to a nearby store. Shortly after entering the store, the reporting party’s mother called her to inform her that someone had stolen the vehicle. The reporting party ran out of the store after her vehicle. She located it on the 800 block of B Street. Both her mother and her child were inside and safe. Her mother identified a man who was walking away from the area as the suspect. Officers obtained a description of the suspect, located him nearby, and safely arrested him. He was later identified as Kiarash Rezaee and booked into the San Mateo County Jail for driving or taking a vehicle without consent, kidnapping a child under the age of fourteen, and kidnapping.
As the San Mateo Police Department continues to address vehicle theft, we have some helpful tips on how to protect your car from theft.
Protect Your Ride
There are numerous antitheft systems and devices designed to make vehicles more difficult to steal or easier to trace and recover. Here are how some of them work:
• Audible and Visible Devices: These devices, such as a horn alarm, deter theft by bringing attention to an unauthorized attempt to steal or enter a vehicle. Visible devices create a visual threat/warning/deterrence, such as the use of steering-wheel locks, as well as theft-deterrent decals, flashing lights, and window etching.
• Immobilizing-Type Devices: These prevent thieves from bypassing a vehicle’s ignition system and hot-wiring the vehicle. Some incorporate computer chips in ignition keys or disable the flow of electricity or fuel to the engine.
• Vehicle Recovery Systems: These devices use electronic transmission technology that help law enforcement reveal the location of stolen vehicles—and possibly catch the thief in the act.
Use common sense when parking and exiting your vehicle:
• Take your vehicle's key; do not leave it in or on your vehicle.
• Close and lock all windows and doors when you park.
• Park in well-lit areas if possible and within view of a security camera.
• Never leave valuables in your vehicle, especially if they can be seen from outside the vehicle.
Thieves want vehicle parts and valuable items, too:
Radios and wheel covers aren't the only popular stolen vehicle parts thieves take. They want whatever sells, from the mandated labeled parts to those that aren't. Some of the most popular vehicle parts or valuable items stolen from vehicles include doors, lift gates, engines, transmissions, catalytic converters, air bags, radios, GPS units, cell phones, iPads, laptops, and purses.
This remains an open and active investigation.
ARRESTED
Kiarash Rezaee, a 47-year-old San Mateo Resident
Charges: Driving or taking a vehicle without consent (10851 CVC), Kidnapping of a minor under 14 (208(b) PC), and Kidnapping (207(a) PC)
MEDIA CONTACT
Alison Gilmore
Public Information Officer | Office of the Chief
City of San Mateo Police Department
200 Franklin Pkwy, San Mateo, CA 94403
650-522-7626 | [email protected]
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