Yesterday morning, a routine stolen vehicle investigation by deputies from the Cabazon Sheriff's Station escalated into a full-blown carjacking and kidnapping incident. The deputies were responding to a call at Haugen Lehman and Tamarack in Whitewater when they located the stolen Nissan Altima. According to the official report, the driver of the vehicle, identified as Steven Mata, refused to stop, leading to a high-speed chase along the eastbound I-10 freeway toward Palm Springs.
However, due to the perilous driving of the suspect, deputies were forced to halt the pursuit for the safety of the public. It wasn't long before the Palm Springs Police Department spotted the vehicle once again. Mata and his passenger, Claudia Ruelas, were apprehended after a brief foot chase. As it turned out, Mata had a history with the law—he was a 33-year-old resident of San Diego previously known to authorities—while Ruelas, despite not being implicated in the vehicle's theft, was cited for an unrelated warrant and subsequently released.
During the investigation that followed, officials found that Mata had commandeered the Nissan Altima at knifepoint in the Calimesa area. His victim managed to escape from the vehicle later in the Banning area, which is when the alarming incident came to the attention of law enforcement. Sergeant Kirby Wooldridge, the reporting supervisor, disclosed that Mata was booked into Smith Correctional Facility, facing multiple charges: carjacking, kidnapping, felony evading, and possession of a stolen vehicle. Details about Ruelas, who is a 24-year-old Riverside resident, were slim beyond her citation for the outstanding warrant.
The Cabazon Sheriff's Station is welcoming any information that could be pertinent to this case. Anyone with such information is encouraged to reach out to Deputy Lee at 951-922-7100.
