Full Notification

San Mateo Police Detectives arrested a ride-share driver Thursday morning in connection with a violent sexual assault of a passenger, reported in San Mateo on Aug. 14, 2018.
 
On Tuesday, Aug. 14 at about 7 p.m., San Mateo Police received a call from a passerby in the area of the 1400 block of Fashion Island Boulevard reporting that a sexual assault had just occurred. San Mateo Police Officers arrived within two minutes and located the victim. The preliminary investigation showed the victim was in San Mateo around State Route 92 and Grant Street when she was picked up by a man who posed as an Uber driver. The victim stated seeing both Uber and Lyft stickers on the windshield. The victim reported the suspect drove her to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her. The victim was able to escape and with the assistance of a passerby called police as the suspect fled the area in a vehicle. Click here to review the original press release.
 
San Mateo Police Detectives quickly assumed the investigation and began working the case with very limited information and a traumatized victim. Detectives were able to obtain surveillance footage from local businesses, which lead to an image of the suspected vehicle, a gray Toyota hatchback. Multiple search warrants were authored on various companies to include Uber and Lyft. Our detectives filtered through over 1,100 potential suspect vehicles, matching the description, and narrowed it down to 5 potential leads. Additional search warrants were authored to obtain more detailed information, which determined the suspect vehicle was a 2010 Toyota Matrix. Detectives complied information from the victim’s statement, the sketch of the suspect, information collected from search warrants, and developed a profile which lead to the identity of the suspect as 40-year-old Brandon Sherman, a San Jose resident. Sherman was also later positively identified by the victim as the suspect that sexually assaulted her.
 
Today, Oct. 25, 2018, around 9:20 a.m., Detectives and officers assigned to our Crime Reduction Unit arrested Sherman during a traffic stop. Sherman was found driving the Toyota believed to be used during the commission of the crime. A search warrant was served at Sherman’s residence located on the 700 block of Calero Avenue in San Jose and evidence was collected additionally linking Sherman to the crime. Sherman was booked into San Mateo County Jail for Kidnapping with the Intent to Sexually Assault, Rape, and Assault with a Deadly Weapon (all felonies).
 
Our detectives are continuing to investigate whether the suspect may be responsible for additional crimes. Anyone with information about this incident please contact or dispatch center (650) 522-7700 or by email: [email protected]. Anonymous tips can be submitted at http://tinyurl.com/SMPDTips or by calling the SMPD Secret Witness Line at (650) 522-7676. We ask our community to take steps to ensure your safety when using ride-share apps. You can find a ride-share safety pamphlet on our website at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/1630/Crime-Prevention-Safety-Tips.
 
We wanted to thank the District Attorney’s Office for assisting our detectives in this investigation.