Carjacking Suspect Told Victim, 'Someone's Out to Kill Me'

The man who a mother and child in the parking lot near Toto's Pizzeria on Tuesday night reportedly told them, "Someone's out to kill me," before he drove away with their vehicle, prosecutors said today.

Stephan Thomas Allen, who pleaded not guilty to the carjacking in San Mateo County Superior Court on Wednesday, approached the woman while she was sitting in her silver 2001 Honda Civic with her 5-year-old daughter in the back seat at about 9 p.m., District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

The woman's husband was inside the restaurant, located at 1250 El Camino Real, picking up a pizza, according to prosecutors.

Allen allegedly entered the car through the unlocked passenger door and told the woman to drive. "Someone's out to kill me," he reportedly told her.

The woman pulled her keys out of the ignition, and Allen pushed her on the shoulder and ordered her out of the car, prosecutors said.

She told Allen he could have the car if she could take her daughter out. After the woman removed her daughter, Allen drove away in her car, according to prosecutors.

The woman ran into the pizzeria and called the police.

The Police Department then issued a countywide call to other law enforcement agencies, alerting them to the situation.

Allen was at about 2 a.m. Wednesday sitting inside the Honda Civic while it was pulled over on the Broadway overpass of U.S. Highway 101 in Burlingame, Wagstaffe said. The car had apparently run out of gas.

Allen is due to appear in court on May 31 for his preliminary hearing. The defense requested he be released on his own recognizance, but the court set his bail at $100,000. He remains in custody.