Car thief who stole the same car twice arrested: police

( KRON ) — A car thief who police say stole the same car twice last weekend was arrested following a pursuit, the San Mateo Police Department said. According to police, the vehicle was initially reported stolen to the Stockton Police Department on Friday.

On Friday evening, Hayward police officers located the vehicle and had it towed to a secure tow yard. However, the following morning, a vehicle was backed into the tow yard’s chain link fence and stole the car again.

Just over an hour later, the vehicle was detected by an automated license plate reader in San Mateo. San Mateo PD officers attempted to locate the car.

According to police, the car was spotted at around 9:18 a.m. An officer attempted to stop the car, but it fled west on Highway 92. Officers initiated a pursuit, but broke it off when the driver “displayed a wanton disregard for public safety” as he drove at a high rate of speed and then reversed course into ongoing traffic.

The vehicle, officers later learned, was equipped with GPS, which officers were able to use to trace it to the 200 block of 24th Avenue in San Mateo. Officers spotted the car again parked in the area of Portola Drive.

The driver, police said, fled from the vehicle on foot into neighboring backyards. Police established a perimeter and eventually located the suspect at Beresford Park where he was arrested.

After initially lying to officers about his name, the suspect was identified as Jaizekiel Kumar, 26, of Hayward. He was charged with:

• Drive or take a vehicle without consent
• Unauthorized use of another person’s identity or personal identifying information
• Evading a peace officer with wanton disregard for the public

He was booked into the San Mateo County Jail.

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