Teen accused of using stolen credit card to rent $240,000 sports car

A Northern California teen faces criminal charges connected with using stolen credit cards to rent a $240,000 sports car and a $12 million vacation home, authorities said.

Mohannad Halaweh, 19, of Rohnert Park, was scheduled to appear in court Monday on multiple charges, including vehicle theft and several identity theft-related charges, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records.

“He wanted to live like he was a high roller,” said Sgt. Michael Raasch of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department. “He wants to live the rock star lifestyle.”

He was arrested June 4 after deputies stopped him in the Roseland area near Santa Rosa after he was seen driving an orange 2012 McLaren, which had been reported stolen, Raasch said.

A passenger in the car, 19-year-old Nhimia Kahsay, of Santa Rosa, also was arrested on suspicion of outstanding fraud warrants, Raasch added.

Detectives discovered Halaweh used stolen credit cards to rent the sports car for $13,000 on June 2 and the vacation home in Glen Ellen for $27,000, Raasch said.

He reportedly rented the sports car from an exotic-car rental company in San Jose. The car rental later discovered he had booked the car with a stolen credit card and reported the theft to authorities, Raasch said.

As detectives investigated Halaweh, they also discovered he rented a vacation home June 3 and threw a party that authorities broke up, Raasch said.

Halaweh was known to authorities because he reportedly held similar parties in the past.

He was reportedly arrested in March in Berkeley on suspicion of using a stolen credit card to buy a large amount of electronics from an Apple store, Raasch said.

Halaweh was being held on $1 million bail.