San Mateo County man accused of firing flare gun at occupied police car
A San Mateo County man was recently arrested for allegedly firing a flare gun at an officer’s patrol car, according to police.
Police began investigating on Thursday, January 27th, after a man — later identified as 44-year-old Yasuhito Oshima — circulated a video showing an unknown person firing a flare gun over a building. The building was later determined to be the San Mateo PD building on Franklin Parkway, police said.
On the night of Tuesday, February 15th, an officer responding to a call for service saw a bright burning object speed past their vehicle as they approached the intersection of Cypress and Delaware and land in someone’s front yard, where it continued burning until it fizzled out.
In trying to determine where the object had come from, the officer came across Oshima sitting on a park bench with a flare gun at his feet. Once Oshima clocked the officer approaching, he quickly grabbed the gun and shoved in his pocket, police said.
At that point, Oshima reportedly complied with the officer’s orders and was taken into custody without incident. The flare gun was found in his jacket pocket and the charred remains of a flare were found nearby, police said.
Oshima was ultimately booked at the San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and assault on a peace officer with a firearm.
