Edhat StaffSource: Santa Maria Police Department
On October 27, 2017 at about 6:33 P.M. officers responded to the report of a vehicle stolen from the 1000 Block of N. School. The reporting party said their vehicle was parked in the driveway when they saw a female jump into the vehicle and flee from the area. The reporting party advised their three-year-old son was asleep in the back seat of the vehicle at the time of the theft.
The vehicle had been purchased by the reporting party the day before and was not able to provide a license plate number. A basic vehicle description was broadcast to officers throughout the city and they immediately began looking for any vehicle matching the description. An officer working on a theft investigation not far from the incident had to break away to begin searching the area. About fifteen minutes later the officer located a vehicle matching the description and initiated a traffic stop in the 100 Blk. of E. Donovan. Several officers responded to assist and Rene Martinez (34) of Santa Maria was identified as the driver of the car. During the course of the investigation the missing three-year-old was located in his child safety seat in the back seat. Martinez was taken into custody without incident and the child was returned to his family.
Martinez was booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail for charges associated with the incident.
