San Mateo Police Arrest Suspects In Connection With Robbery Spree

SAN MATEO, CA — Police arrested two men and were still searching for a third after a 14-hour slew of crimes were reported. The crime spree began Saturday evening with a purse snatching from an elderly woman in San Mateo, officials said.

San Mateo Residents Richard Farries, 20, and Okusitino Tau, 18 were arrested just before 10 a.m. on Sunday. Both men were arrested in connection with multiple crimes including robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools, according to the San Mateo Police Department.

The crime spree began around 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, when three suspects pulled up in a vehicle beside an elderly woman, who was walking southbound on Laural Avenue, police said. The suspects reportedly grabbed the purse from her hand and fled eastbound on 7th Avenue. The woman was unharmed, police said.

One hour later, the woman called San Mateo police to report that her credit cards had been used in both Belmont and San Carlos. Shortly after, she called back to inform police that her card had been used in Hayward.

Later, officers were able to obtain images of three suspects and their vehicle after viewing security footage from locations where the stolen credit cards were used. Police continued to follow their trail throughout the night and into the next morning.

The suspects were reportedly riding around in a gold Mazda minivan.

Around 7:20 a.m. on Sunday, San Mateo County Dispatch broadcast an alert for robbery and burglary suspects that occurred in South San Francisco. About an hour later, a vehicle theft was reported on the unit block of Ridgecrest Terrace.

The stolen Honda reportedly belonged to the daughter of the elderly woman suspects had robbed the day before. It was later determined that a spare key for the car was inside the woman's purse.

"A private FLOCK Camera System recorded the suspect vehicle and stolen vehicle leaving the area. It confirmed the gold Mazda minivan was involved," police said in a statement.

Shortly thereafter, at 9:36 a.m., another robbery crime was reported in Millbrae, involving the same gold minivan, prompting the San Mateo Sheriff's Office to respond.

Less than 10 minutes later, deputies spotted the gold minivan traveling through San Mateo. After a struggle to keep track of the vehicle, an officer finally positioned himself behind the van and followed it until additional officers arrived to initiate "a high-risk traffic stop," officials said.

Police cleared the van of two suspects and discovered multiple purses and window punches in plain view inside the vehicle.

In the process of taking the two suspects into custody, another man emerged from the house and "became belligerent" toward officers. Occupants of the home were then told to leave the premises so police could prevent evidence from being destroyed, officials said.

During their sweep of the property, another "belligerent" man came out of a home next door.

"At that time, it was determined both properties are shared and were frozen until search warrants for both could be issued," police said.

Amid a search of both homes, the initial victim's purse was recovered, in addition to property likely belonging to more victims, police said. Later, the woman the trio first robbed positively identified Farries as the passenger in the gold minivan and the one who robbed her.

Police said that Farries was a parolee at large at the time of these incidents and Tau was out on bail in connection with two street robberies reported in October 2019.

Tau was also arrested on suspicion of multiple crimes, including being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine, possession of a handgun with altered serial number, possession of a short-barreled rifle and committing a felony while out on bail.

Police are still looking for a third suspect and urge anyone with information about this incident to call the Secret Witness line at 650-522-7676 or online here.