Man who went on a carjacking rampage in 2023—including stealing a golf cart—sentenced to 150 years in prison.

A man who went on a 2023 carjacking rampage that spanned two counties over the course of a few hours was sentenced to the maximum 150 years to life on May 29, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced.

The 37-year-old Tele Matangi’s actions that day on Sept. 18, 2023 resemble those from the Grand Theft Auto video game. According to a lengthy press release with the play-by-play from the District Attorney’s office, the spree began in the late morning when Matangi, a resident of Pittsburg, crashed the vehicle he was driving into a locked gate near the stadium at Gonzales High School.

He then fled from the scene and approached a driver passing by, pointing a gun at them and stealing their vehicle, according to the DA’s office. Matangi drove the stolen vehicle northbound on Highway 101 and made his way to the intersection of Highway 156 in Prunedale 40 minutes later, where he crashed into oncoming traffic on 156.

Matangi emerged from the wreckage and reportedly fired a gun multiple times at a good Samaritan who stopped to help those involved in the crash. One of the bullets struck the person’s car.

Matangi ran to the nearby Park and Ride lot, when he attempted to carjack another vehicle at gunpoint, the DA’s office said. Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t get the vehicle to start, so he fled on foot across the street and climbed through a home’s window after tearing off its screen.

He ran into the resident of the home, and stole their vehicle’s keys at gunpoint, using the stolen vehicle to head into the San Benito County portion of Aromas.

For unknown reasons, Matangi ditched the vehicle in Aromas and hopped into a golf cart, which he drove at a not-so-high-speed into a nearby property and hid in a storage unit.

When the homeowner confronted him and told him he had to leave, Matangi, who had been using his gun to get what he wanted throughout the day, apparently complied without much fuss. 

A San Benito County Sheriff’s deputy spotted Matangi as he was walking on Carpenteria Road. Matangi, according to the DA’s office, pulled out the gun on the deputy, but he was at last arrested with an assist by Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies.

In addition to the semiautomatic firearm, Matangi was reportedly found in possession of multiple magazines with live ammunition, a baggie of methamphetamine and the keys to the last stolen vehicle. He had prior felony convictions for robbery and carjacking, and was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe sentenced Matangi to the maximum possible punishment of 150 years to life, after ruling in March that he had two prior convictions under California’s Three Strikes Law.