A quiet San Mateo neighborhood experienced quite the disturbance last week when a woman was arrested for the attempted murder of a police officer, after trying to escape the scene of an attempted burglary. On Wednesday morning, Maria King’s boyfriend, Saliq “Leeky” Calloway, had attempted to break into an occupied home.
The incident began around 2:45 am, when a San Mateo resident awoke to the sounds of Calloway attempting to force entry into his family’s home. He immediately called police onto the scene, as Calloway, who had failed to get into the house, managed to flee.
“It is pretty rare to have [a burglary] at night and especially to have the home be occupied. So it’s a pretty brazen crime and for us, it requires an urgent response because we have no idea what their intention is, especially when there’s a family inside,” said Rick Decker, San Mateo Police Sergeant.
The first officer to respond was a K9 handler who found King rummaging through an unlocked car close to the attempted burglary. As the officer approached, King tried to flee in a nearby vehicle, aiming the car at the unnamed officer and his canine in the process.
The officer fired at the vehicle, and other arriving officers managed to apprehend King a few blocks away.
At approximately 3 a.m., the neighborhood was put under a shelter-in-place order, barring residents from leaving their homes while police searched for the second suspect.
Calloway, the second suspect, was apprehended around 7:30 a.m., just after the shelter-in-place was lifted.
The event serves as a somber reminder for residents to be diligent about home safety precautions. Using measures like surveillance cameras, homeowners can avoid up to 67% of burglaries.
“Property crimes have become a priority [for police] in the last couple years. More and more we see offenders with violent criminal histories committing property crimes,” Decker said. “In this case, we were very thankful the victim was calm, despite the fact that someone was trying to break into his home … and he gave us the information we needed to plan a response and get there quickly.”
Neither the responding officer nor his police dog were hurt during the incident. However, the officer has taken administrative leave in order to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
King was arrested for attempted murder of a police officer; burglary; and conspiracy to commit a crime. She is also being charged with misdemeanors including driving on a suspended license, burglary, resisting arrest, petty theft and being under the influence of methamphetamine.
Calloway was also taken into custody, charged with felony burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime.