Prunedale carjacking suspect arrested near Monterey, San Benito County line
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Sept. 20, 2023 UPDATE 3:11 P.M. The Monterey County Sheriff's Office has identified the suspect as 35-year-old Matangi Tele Kalafi of Pittsburg. He has been arrested on charges of carjacking, robbery, first-degree burglary robbery and attempted murder.
The Sheriff's Office adds Kalafi allegedly forcibly entered a nearby home on Meridian Spur Road, near the Park n Ride in Prunedale, where he revealed a firearm to the homeowner and demanded the keys to their white van.
His bail is set at $6,345,000 and his arraignment has not been scheduled as of yet.
UPDATE: 7:21 P.M. The suspect in a carjacking in Prunedale has been arrested along the Monterey and San Benito County line.
The male suspect hasn't been identified by deputies at this time and is facing, at minimum, a carjacking charge according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.
Additional charges are pending additional investigation.
CHP-Monterey and Monterey County deputies responded to reports of a white van being stolen by a suspect armed with a handgun Monday afternoon.
There were also reports of a stolen car out of Gonzales possibly crashing at Highway 156 and 101 in the Prunedale area.
Investigators said the suspect then ran into the nearby Park & Ride and attempted to steal a jeep, but the jeep wouldn't start.
After that the sheriff's office said the suspect carjacked a white van and drove off.
Although they also had reports of shots being fired, the sheriff's office said that has not been confirmed, however the suspect was armed with a handgun.
Later, the sheriff's office received calls of a man on foot and shirtless wandering around the Aromas area.
Deputies located the man along Carpinteria Road and placed him into custody.
