A 24-year-old man accused of breaking into five cars parked at a library lot has been sentenced to a year behind bars after leading police on a chase that ended with him slamming into another vehicle and injuring its driver. Amir Abbas Falahati pleaded no contest to two felony counts of vehicle burglary and evading, and a judge handed down one year in jail followed by two years of probation.
Plea Deal Closes Out Library Lot Burglary Case
The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office reported the plea and sentence, and the San Mateo Police Department
reposted the San Mateo County DA's announcement on Monday. The DA account wrote that Falahati “pled no contest 2 counts felony vehicle burg & evading, sentenced 1 year jail, 2 yrs probation.” Officers had linked Falahati to five separate auto burglaries that took place in a library parking lot, according to the department's post.
Police said Falahati fled from officers rather than stop, and that he struck another car during the encounter. The collision left the other driver injured, per the same department account. Officers ultimately arrested him in connection with the string of break-ins and the crash.
Part of a Broader Pattern in San Mateo
The case adds to a string of vehicle crime that has rattled San Mateo in recent weeks. Just over two weeks earlier, a 21-year-old city resident was arrested in connection with an overnight string of vehicle thefts and burglaries that reportedly included rummaging through an occupied home, as detailed by The Mercury News.
That same month, a separate 21-year-old San Mateo man was arrested after allegedly burglarizing a residence and at least three vehicles before fleeing in a stolen car and getting into a hit-and-run collision, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal. Officers responded to that crash around 2:20 a.m. in the 200 block of West 40th Avenue, and a Nissan Altima was later found abandoned nearby, the outlet reported, citing a statement from the police department. It is a separate incident from the Falahati case, but the pattern underscores how often vehicle burglaries in the city have escalated into police pursuits and crashes.
San Mateo officials have pointed to community vigilance as one of the city's tools against property crime. The police department's website notes that San Mateo has one of the most active Neighborhood Watch programs in the county. Residents with tips can reach the department at (650) 522-7700, while emergencies should still go through 911.
