It's been a busy couple of weeks since our last Crime & Safety story. In today's roundup, we've got the latest in robberies and assaults courtesy of SFPD's reports, an interesting clerk/customer altercation, updates on the "Cryst" tagger trial, and an ongoing discussion of a busy intersection in the Castro.
Glass Bottle Assault
A verbal argument between two men led to injury on July 7th near 18th and Noe streets. During the argument, the suspect, a 28-year-old man, grabbed a glass bottle and struck the victim, a 31-year-old man, over the head. The suspect then fled and the victim went to San Francisco General Hospital with a laceration to his head. No arrest was made.
Casa Sanchez Apartment Mail Theft
Nextdoor users JC AndNick posted on break-ins and mail theft at Casa Sanchez Apartments at 407 Sanchez St. According to the account, two suspects broke into the building, raided mailboxes and stole packages. No word on whether the suspects were arrested or if any property was recovered, but two security camera photos of the suspect were posted on Nextdoor:
Casa Sanchez mail theft suspects / Nextdoor
Clerk/Customer Alcohol Altercation
On July 11th at 3am, an altercation occurred after a 33-year-old man tried to buy alcohol after hours from a store near 18th and Sanchez. The man threw beer cans at the store clerk (male, 23), and then threatened the clerk and went outside the store. The clerk then exited the store and struck the man with a metal pipe, according to SFPD. Police arrived and arrested the clerk, and the other man went to San Francisco General Hospital to treat a laceration to his cheek.
Fistfight Stabbing
Later on July 11th at 5:18am, a 27-year-old man was injured near Collingwood Park. The victim was walking with a friend through the park, when the suspect (a man in his 40s), got into a fistfight with the victim. The victim later realized that he had been stabbed, and went to San Francisco General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No arrest was made.
Witnesses Help Prevent Phone Theft
On July 16th at 12:25am, a 27-year-old man was injured in a robbery attempt on Castro between 17th and 18th streets. The male suspect, 27, grabbed the victim's phone and attempted to run away. As the victim tried to stop the suspect, the suspect started punching the victim. Nearby witnesses pepper-sprayed the suspect and held him until the police arrived. The suspect was arrested, the phone was recovered, and the victim suffered injury to his nose, but refused medical assistance.
Attempted Theft on J-Church
There was a robbery with force on a Muni train near 20th and Church on July 17th at 11:20pm. The suspect (male, 20), grabbed a phone from a victim (female, 34). The victim followed the man off of the train to try to retrieve the phone and was pushed by the victim against the train. She attempted to follow him once more, but lost sight of him. A witness was able to track him and recover the phone, but the suspect fled and no arrest was made.
Castro Grass/House Fire
This last Saturday evening, you may have noticed many sirens around 9:30pm. There was a fire at a Castro Street house between Beaver and 16th. The fire began in the grass in front of the house and proceeded to spread to the facade of the property, according to the SFFD. The fire department was able to extinguish it and the house was left with damage to the facade and some water damage. For the full story, check out our report on the fire.
"Cryst" Tagger Trial Update
Accused serial tagger Andrew "Cryst" Yarbrough, arrested in March of this year, is currently going through his trial. The district attorney's office was tasked with assessing the total cost of the graffiti damage in order to support the charges in the case. They determined the damages to total close to $50,000. On Monday, however, Judge Brendan Conroy reduced nine of 10 felony counts to misdemeanors, after asking for individual testimony from those who took the photos of each tagging. According to the Chronicle, "It’s not uncommon for judges to try to avoid felony charges because of the impact they could have on a young person’s life."
Intersection Safety
Commenters and Nextdoor users have recently spoken out on the issue of safety around the intersection of 16th, Noe, and Market streets. Complaints range from insufficient crosswalk time between the east/westbound crosswalks, pedestrians ignoring the crosswalk commands and ending up in the street or waiting too far out from the sidewalk for their turn to walk, and vehicles turning on to Market Street and being confused about other stop lights and stopping in the intersection, blocking other lanes of traffic.
"This six-way intersection is inherently problematic," District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener told Hoodline. "The intersection is going to receive some design changes as part of the Upper Market planned street safety improvements." Wiener went on to explain that increasing crossing times would "have a dramatically negative impact on Noe and 16th Street traffic, which are already gridlocked." We'll keep you updated on future plans for the intersection.
Did we miss any crime and safety updates? Let us know in the comments below.
