In this week's SFPD Central Station newsletter, Capt. David Lazar says 20 new officers have been assigned to his station since he's been there, and five more are graduating from the Police Academy and will be assigned to Central for field training. He adds that foot beats have been staffed up in Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach, Ping Yuen Housing and Union Square, so read up on who's in which area on day and night watch.
Capt. Lazar also writes about 11 examples of great police work in the past seven weeks. Officers arrested people suspected in car thefts, car break-ins, burglaries, robberies and vandalism around the district. "Some of the arrests were made in large part to residents and merchants phoning the police, providing detailed descriptions and assisting the officers," he writes. "Having security cameras is also very essential in capturing criminals."
Also, mark your calendars for Capt. Lazar's monthly community meeting from 6–7pm Thursday, March 24th at the North Beach Branch Library, 850 Columbus Ave.
Finally, scroll through the newsletter to read about the Featured Citizen of the Month, Troy Campbell, the executive director of the Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District, and featured Officer of the Month, Darla McBride.
In other news, the DA's office said the defense asked for a continuance at the preliminary hearing for Colin White, the suspect in the murder of North Beach sketch artist Stuart "Stu" Jackson, and it has been put over to April 5th.
And now for more crime and law enforcement updates from around the northeastern neighborhoods:
Officers arrest firebug in wee hours
A call came in at 3:45am March 5th about a suspect on the 200 block of California Street in the FiDi lighting fire to a trash can. Officers arrived on scene and took a 25-year-old man into custody.
Wrong-way driver rams patrol car
A suspect was driving the wrong way on a one-way street at 10:46pm March 6th near Stockton and California streets in Chinatown. Officers conducted a traffic stop, but as they approached the suspect’s vehicle, the suspect drove towards the officers and hit the patrol vehicle. The suspect backed up and hit the patrol vehicle two more times. An arrest was made.
Man stabbed in head at Powell Street BART
A 52-year-old homeless man was stabbed in the head numerous times with a switchblade at the entrance to the Powell Street BART station at 5am March 7th. According to SFPD, the man was hanging out at the station entrance with another homeless man, about 35–40 years old, when they got into an argument. The second man, along with a third man in his twenties, began beating on the victim. The second man eventually took out a switchblade and stabbed the victim in the head multiple times.
The victim staggered away, and the two suspects fled in an unknown direction. The victim was taken to the hospital with cuts to his head, but the injuries weren't life-threatening.
Man mugged at Stockton & Greenwich
Two men, about 20–25, mugged a 28-year-old man at 10pm March 7th on the 1800 block of Stockton Street near Greenwich in North Beach. The suspects attacked the victim from behind, punched him in the face and demanded his property. Both suspects fled the scene with the man's cell phone, wallet, driver license and credit cards. The victim suffered redness to the face and was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Store robbery thwarted
A would-be robbery was thwarted at 12:10pm March 8th on O'Farrell between Stockton Street and Grant Avenue and in Union Square. A man, 32, entered a store, grabbed store property and attempted to flee, but a man, 35, struggled with him and was able to detain him until police arrived. The man who interrupted the robbery suffered a bruise to his knee, but refused medical transport.
Fatal hit-and-run near Broadway Tunnel
A man in his sixties was killed the morning of March 11th in a hit-and-run; police found his body in the road on Broadway just west of Powell Street on the Chinatown/Russian Hill border. SFGate reported that a witness saw a white, windowless van hit the man.
We reached out to Supervisor Aaron Peskin's office to ask if anything was being done about this dangerous intersection, and his legislative aide, Connie Chan, emailed to say as a member of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Peskin voted and advocated for an additional $67,625 in funding for the Chinatown Broadway Street Design Project, which will improve pedestrian safety in the area.
"The project is expected to include bulb-outs, special crosswalk paving, new medians, street trees, bus stop improvement and repaving" from Broadway from Columbus Avenue to the Broadway Tunnel, Chan added.
SF Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon said the agency put the project out to bid for the second time on March 2nd. "This was the second bid period, because the initial bid only resulted in one bid, which was over the project budget," she wrote in an email. Construction is expected to begin in August 2016, and construction cost is estimated at $5.2 million, with a total project cost of $8.2 million (which includes construction, construction management, design and planning).
