Baltazar Alvarez Mendoza
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — 26-year-old Santa Maria resident Baltazar Alvarez Mendoza is apparently unaware of the ubiquity of ride-sharing services now available for anyone needing a ride from Point A to Point B, as evidenced by his allegedly carjacking a young father and his son on the morning of April 30th.
It all began when Mendoza entered the victim’s vehicle in Santa Maria and, while holding them at gunpoint, forced them to drive northward on U.S. 101 to the City of Atascadero, where they pulled into a Shell gas station so that Mendoza could perpetrate an armed robbery of the attendant. It was at that point that his victims escaped and called 911 Emergency to report the crime, and that Mendoza had fled the scene in their vehicle.
Responding deputies from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department engaged in a short pursuit which came to an abrupt end when Mendoza lost control of the stolen car and crashed near the city of San Miguel. He was arrested at that time and transported to San Luis Obispo County Jail, where he was held on $500,000 bail.
Just ten days later, Santa Barbara County District Attorney announced to the media that her office was filing five felony counts pursuant to the initiation of the crimes within her jurisdiction.
On May 10, Alvarez was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where Dudley reported he was booked on “charges of carjacking, kidnapping during a carjacking, robbery, leaving the scene of an accident, and evading an officer with willful disregard for safety,” with his bail increased to $1,000,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
