Inmate Who Escaped San Quentin Suspected In Carjacking

NEAR SAN FRANCISCO (CBSLA) – A manhunt is underway for an inmate who escaped from San Quentin State Prison Wednesday night north of San Francisco and may have committed a carjacking.

Shalom Mendoza, 21, was discovered missing just after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday during a prison roll count, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It's unclear exactly how he made his escape.

Mendoza is then suspected to have carjacked a Toyota RAV4 from a woman in the parking lot of a Home Depot in nearby San Rafael, about 1 ½ miles from the prison, according to CBS San Francisco.

The victim said the suspect motioned underneath his shirt as if he had a weapon or gun and then threatened to kill her, CBS SF reports. The suspect demanded the victim's keys, got in the RAV4 and sped away. The woman was not hurt.

In December 2017, Mendoza began serving a five-year prison sentence for a conviction in Los Angeles County for deadly use of a weapon during a carjacking and evading a peace officer while driving recklessly. He was transferred to San Quentin in April, CBS SF reports.

He is described as Hispanic, 5-foot-5, 177 pounds with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and khaki or light-yellow pants. The Toyota RAV4 he is believed to have carjacked has license plate 6STZ502.

San Quentin, California's oldest prison, houses about 4,200 inmates.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call CDCR Lt. Samuel Robinson at 415-455-5000.  If you see him, do not approach but instead call 911 immediately.