UPDATE (8:49 p.m.) – The San Rafael Police Department released surveillance video of a carjacking, which officers believe was carried out by an escaped prisoner from San Quentin State Prison.
The video was taken around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Home Depot parking lot on Shoreline Parkway in San Rafael.
The victim told police that a man approached her, threatened to kill her and then demanded her car keys. She says the man motioned underneath his shirt as if he had a weapon or gun.
While police were investigating the carjacking, the police department was informed that a prisoner had escaped from nearby San Quentin. The prisoner’s description matched that of the carjacker, and the Home Depot is located less than a mile away from the prison. Police say this led them to believe the escaped prisoner, Shalom Mendoza, may have been the carjacker.
The vehicle taken was a silver Toyota Rav4 sport utility vehicle with California license plate number “6STZ502”.
Mendoza was part of a work crew at the prison.
UPDATE (11:25 a.m.) – California authorities say an escaped San Quentin State Prison inmate suspected in a carjacking walked away from an unfenced minimum-security dormitory outside the prison walls.
Prison spokesman Sgt. Robert Gardea said Thursday officials are still searching for 21-year-old Shalom Mendoza. He was last seen at the prison before 6 p.m. Wednesday and reported missing after 9:30 p.m.
San Rafael police say Mendoza is believed to have carjacked a victim in a nearby Home Depot parking lot after 9 p.m.
(2:46 a.m.) – San Quentin State Prison Officials are asking the public for assistance in locating an inmate who escaped.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials say 21-year-old Shalom Mendoza was reported missing at around 9:35 p.m. on Wednesday during an institutional count. A subsequent search confirmed that the inmate was missing.
Officials say Mendoza is believed to have carjacked a motorist near the prison who was driving a Toyota Rav4 with a California License plate number 6STZ502.
Courtesy: CDCR
Mendoza is described as a Hispanic male with short brown hair and brown eyes. He is 5’5″ and weighs 177 Ibs.
The CDRC says Mendoza arrived at the state prison from Los Angeles County in December 2017. He has a five-year sentence for use of a deadly weapon during a carjacking/attempt carjack and evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly.
Anyone who sees Mendoza is asked to immediately call 911. If you have any information on his whereabouts you are asked to call Lt. Samuel Robinson at (415) 455-5000.
