A 36-year-old San Mateo man was arrested yesterday after police say he brandished a kitchen knife and threatened a victim with death on the 400 block of Peninsula Avenue, with a police drone helping officers track his car to a nearby apartment complex before he could get far. Joe Medina now faces charges of criminal threats and brandishing a deadly weapon other than a firearm, according to police.
According to the San Mateo Police Department, officers responded to the 400 block of Peninsula Avenue after receiving a report of a knife brandishing. Police say Medina exited his vehicle, a gray four-door Honda sedan, while carrying and waving a kitchen knife, and that he yelled at people nearby and threatened the victim with death. The victim ran to a nearby business, and police say Medina was the sole occupant of the vehicle when he fled the scene.
Officers didn't have to chase Medina through traffic to catch him. Dispatchers leaned on the department's Real Time Information Center along with its Drone as a First Responder program to locate Medina and his vehicle at a nearby apartment complex, police say. The RTIC, established in 2024 as an integrated hub that synthesizes surveillance feeds, mapping software, databases, and drone technology, gives officers live situational awareness during critical incidents across the city, per city documentation cited by the City of San Mateo.
Aerial Tracking Ends the Chase Before It Starts
The city's Drone as a First Responder program launched in May 2024 and had completed more than 1,000 aerial missions by early 2026, with units dispatched citywide on 911 calls that often reach a scene minutes ahead of ground officers, the department has said in a Facebook post. That speed appears to have paid off on Peninsula Avenue, a busy commercial and residential corridor near the U.S. Highway 101 interchange that sees heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
The department has continued investing in the technology behind these responses. In March, San Mateo police opened recruitment for a Real Time Information Center Coordinator, offering a monthly salary between $9,307 and $11,095 to oversee drone flights, live camera monitoring, and crime intelligence reports during active calls. Candidates for the role are required to hold an FAA Part 107 remote drone pilot certification.
Charges Carry Felony Strike Exposure
Medina was booked into San Mateo County Jail on charges under Penal Code 422(a), criminal threats, and Penal Code 417(a)(1), brandishing a deadly weapon other than a firearm, police say. He was transported to the Maguire Correctional Facility, the 688-bed county jail on Bradford Street in Redwood City, operated by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division, which processes primary bookings for municipal police departments across the county.
Criminal threats under Section 422(a) is a wobbler offense that prosecutors can charge as either a misdemeanor or a felony, according to the Shouse Law Group. A felony conviction can carry 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison and counts as a strike under California's Three Strikes law, but prosecutors must prove the victim experienced reasonable and sustained fear. The brandishing charge, by contrast, is a straight misdemeanor carrying a mandatory minimum of 30 days up to one year in county jail and fines up to $1,000 — and it doesn't require proof of intent to injure or physical contact, only that the weapon was displayed in public in a threatening manner without justification.
A Rare Scare in an Otherwise Safer County
Incidents like this one stand out partly because they buck a broader trend. Violent crime in San Mateo County dropped 15.9% in 2024, one of the largest double-digit countywide decreases in the state, while property crime fell 14.4% over the same period, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The county's violent crime rate of 260.2 per 100,000 residents in 2024 is well below the statewide average of 480.3, according to Healthy San Mateo County data.
San Mateo police, under Chief Ed Barberini, who has led the department since February 2020, are urging anyone who witnesses similar incidents to contact police immediately. The department also advised the public to remain calm and answer dispatchers' questions thoroughly, to remember a suspect's appearance, clothing, distinguishing features and direction of travel, and to cooperate fully with officers by providing whatever information is available.
This is not the first time San Mateo police have leaned on drones to make a fast arrest without a prolonged street chase. In a similar case this past July, officers used a drone and a K-9 unit to corner an assault suspect at a residential complex, and just days later, a separate downtown San Mateo incident saw a knife-wielding suspect charged under the same criminal threats statute after allegedly threatening a moviegoer.
