GONZALES — Tele Matangi, 37, of Pittsburg, was sentenced to 150 years to life in prison on May 29 after being found guilty by a jury of multiple charges arising from a daylong crime spree in September 2023.
Matangi was convicted of carjacking, attempted carjacking, residential burglary, first-degree robbery, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle, being a violent felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a controlled substance with a firearm and hit and run. The jury also found true that Matangi personally used a firearm during the commission of many of these offenses.
On Sept. 18, 2023, Matangi drove in the Gonzales High parking lot when he crashed through a locked gate near the stadium, damaging it. He abandoned his vehicle near the school, and then carjacked a nearby driver at gunpoint, driving the stolen vehicle northbound to Highway 156 near its intersection with Highway 101 in the Prunedale area.
About 40 minutes later, Matangi caused a collision by turning into oncoming traffic on Highway 156. After crashing into a vehicle, he exited the stolen vehicle and fired multiple shots at a Good Samaritan who stopped near the collision site to help everyone involved. One of Matangi’s shots struck the Good Samaritan’s car.
Matangi then fled on foot to the nearby Park and Ride lot, where he approached a man sitting in his vehicle. He pointed a firearm at the man and attempted to carjack him, but he could not get the vehicle to start. He then went across the street and broke into a home by ripping the window screen and climbing through the window.
Once inside, Matangi pointed his firearm at a resident of the home and stole the resident’s car keys at gunpoint. He then fled with the vehicle into the San Benito County portion of Aromas.
While in Aromas, Matangi abandoned the vehicle and stole a golf cart. He then abandoned the golf cart at a nearby property and hid in a separate Aromas resident’s storage unit. The homeowners found Matangi hiding in their storage unit and told him to leave.
Soon after, a San Benito County Sheriff’s deputy contacted Matangi while Matangi was walking southbound on Carpenteria Road, and Matangi brandished a firearm at the deputy. Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies responded shortly thereafter and assisted the San Benito deputy in arresting Matangi.
At the time of his arrest, Matangi was in possession of a .40-caliber semiautomatic firearm, multiple magazines with live ammunition, a small baggie of methamphetamine and the keys to the last stolen car. Due to prior violent felony convictions for robbery and carjacking, he was prohibited from possessing firearms.
After the jury trial, additional evidence proved that the firearm Matangi was arrested with on Sept. 18 was involved in a drive-by shooting in Antioch, Calif., on Sept. 17. The vehicle Matangi abandoned near Gonzales High on Sept. 18 also matched the description of the suspect vehicle in the Antioch shooting.
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Detective Arras Wilson obtained additional evidence showing that Matangi was near the Antioch shooting just 18 minutes before it occurred, despite Matangi’s trial testimony that he was in San Francisco at that time.
Based on Matangi’s long criminal career as a violent recidivist, Judge Jennifer O’Keefe sentenced Matangi to the maximum possible punishment of 150 years to life.
