A San Mateo man was sentenced to 16 years in state prison in a case where he hit four teenagers with his car after he wrongfully suspected them of tampering with the vehicle.
Omeed Adibi was found guilty in May on five counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon and five counts of felony hit and run causing injury. Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of 17 years, but a San Mateo County judge ruled earlier this month that Adibi should be imprisoned for 16 years. Adibi will receive credit for time already served and good behavior that will take approximately four and a half years off his sentence.
Adibi was 18 years old when he drove his black Mercedes SUV into a group of five boys who were walking on a sidewalk along Howard Avenue in Burlingame in February 2020.
Prosecutors alleged that Adibi had targeted the boys, believe they were responsible for a prank against him which they had not actually done. Authorities said that Adibi’s own friends “pranked” him by leaving animal feces in his car the day before the crash.
Before Adibi’s sentencing, the court also heard from the victims’ family members. During the trial, a mother of one of the victims described his injuries, his two-week hospitalization, and the impact the traumatic memory had on the boy, saying “his confidence was no longer the same.”
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San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said that 10 family members of the victims spoke at the sentencing — some through tears — about the effects of the crash.
The judge then concluded that Adibi was a “serious danger to society,” according to Wagstaffe, before imposing the sentence.
A request for comment to Adibi’s attorney, Jon McDougall, was not immediately returned.
Adibi next faces a hearing Sept. 20 to determine how much restitution he will be ordered to pay to the victims and their families.
