Chino Police Seeking Driver of Car Found Submerged in Creek

Chino police are searching for an Anaheim man whose overturned car was found Tuesday submerged in a creek, its rear window broken, authorities said.

Investigators said they believe that Sadi Mosaferi, 44, was driving the car when he was either swept away by flood waters or lost control and veered into Chino Creek off of Pine Avenue near El Prado Road, Chino Police Lt. Stan Stewart said.

Mosaferi’s relatives last spoke to the auto mechanic Monday afternoon before he was getting ready to close up shop. Investigators believe Mosaferi left his auto shop, Best Auto Clinic, about 6 p.m. and was on his way home when the car overturned, Stewart said.

“There were some indications that the water in that area was excessively deep,” Stewart said. “Either he was swept away by the flooding or he just drove off the road.

Family members spent Monday night driving around Riverside and Orange counties, but found no sign of the man, said Fred Kiasi, Mosaferi’s 33-year-old brother-in-law.

“I went on the route that he usually takes to come home,” Kiasi said. “Right where [the car] was later found, the water was up really high, so I had to go around it.”

The family stayed up most of the night searching for him, then called Anaheim police at dawn, Kiasi said.

Police found the submerged Volvo about 8 a.m. Tuesday. A license plate check showed that it belonged to Mosaferi.

“We’re hoping that he got out,” Kiasi said. “We’re just sitting here waiting for any news, any news at all.”

Mosaferi had immigrated to the United States from Iran in the mid 1980s with his wife and recently started his own business. The couple has a 7-year-old daughter, Kiasi said.

Relatives describe Mosaferi as a hard worker who loves his family.

“My sister is very emotional right now,” Kiasi said. “This has been really hard on all of us.”