Man sleeping in car in San Mateo neighborhood found to be wanted felon with loaded gun, drugs

By KPIX Staff

Click here for updates on this story

    SAN MATEO, California (KPIX) — A homeless man who was living in his car in a San Mateo residential neighborhood was arrested after police found him to be a wanted felon and in possession of a weapon and drugs, police said Monday.

San Mateo police said officers were dispatched to the 800 block of Prospect Row just south of Peninsula Ave. and east of El Camino Real at 11:14 a.m. Sunday. A resident of the neighborhood told police the man had been sleeping in his car over a period of time and the vehicle was increasingly surrounded by trash.

Officers arrived to find the man sleeping and aroused him, while noticing suspected methamphetamine in plain sight in the driver’s door handle, police said. The man was identified as 22-year-old Joshua Gomez, who police said was a transient. A records check showed Gomez was on parole for firearm violations and had two outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Police said Gomez complied when asked to step out of the vehicle, but became anxious and tensed his body while being placed in handcuffs. Gomez then told officers there was a gun in the car and he began resisting officers, asked them to shoot him, and had to be forcefully taken to the ground to prevent him from fleeing.

Officers searched the vehicle and found an unregistered loaded firearm in a backpack along with a fully loaded magazine. In addition, officers found several credit cards not belonging to Gomez.

Gomez was arrested on charges of being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm and ammunition, possession of methamphetamine, resisting arrest and two no-bail warrants.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.