In this week's SFPD Central Station newsletter, Capt. David Lazar points out that April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. He reminds everyone that "the use of a hand held telephone device while driving is prohibited by the California Vehicle Code. A single violation for this offense in San Francisco is $162."

You can also read up on the new Featured Citizen of the Month and Featured Officer of the Month. The Featured Citizen is Trish Herman, who's president of North Beach Neighbors and on the Board of Trustees of National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi. The Featured Officer is Mark Milligan, an eight-year member of Central Police Station.

And now for an overview of some of the more notable crimes in the area this past week.

Good Samaritan thwarts teenage phone robbery

A woman, 26, was standing at Market and Fourth streets in Union Square at 5:21pm April 1st when a boy of about 15–16 years old took the phone from her hand and took off. She took chase and wrestled with him, but he passed the phone off to another boy, also about 15–16, who ran westbound on Market. The victim then chased after him. A good Samaritan stopped the second suspect and wrestled with the boy, who dropped the phone. The woman suffered a bruised forearms and knees, but recovered her phone. Both suspects fled in an unknown direction.

Bus stop fight leads to purse theft, facial injuries

As a woman, 19, was waiting for the bus at Beach and Stockton streets in Fisherman's Wharf at 8:15pm April 1st, a fight broke out between her, two women in their twenties and a man in his twenties. One of them punched her in the face and mouth. She fell to the ground and the three suspects fled in a small, light-colored sedan with her purse, which contained a credit card and makeup. The victim suffered pain to her head and face, a cut to her upper lip and a loose tooth, and was taken to the hospital.

Woman pepper-sprayed during mugging

Two women approached a 59-year-old woman as she was walking on Union Street near Taylor in Russian Hill at 9:44pm April 1st, grabbed her arm and pepper-sprayed her in the eyes. They then took her purse, containing a smart phone and her identification, and fled on foot. 

Another pair of muggers use pepper spray

Another woman, 40, was pepper-sprayed during a mugging, this time at 10:15pm April 1st on the 300 block of Drumm Street in the FiDi. She was sitting on the stairs when a man and woman approached her, pepper-sprayed her and took her purse, containing her wallet and money, and then fled in a black vehicle. The victim suffered redness in both eyes and was treated at the scene.

Bartender robbed at gunpoint

A male bartender, 37, on the 100 block of Bay Street in Fisherman's Wharf, got an unwelcome surprise at 10:27pm April 4th. A man, age 30–40, walked in and went to the bar, then pulled out a handgun and demanded all of the money from the till. The suspect took the money and fled on foot.

Woman cut in head with shoe heel during fight at job audition

When SFPD officers stopped a car at 12:30am April 7th on the 500 block of Broadway in North Beach, they noticed that a woman inside was injured. The victim, 21, told the officers she had been auditioning for a job when she became involved in a physical altercation with another woman. The suspect hit her in the forehead with the heel of her shoe, causing a cut to her head. She was transported to the hospital in non-life-threatening condition.

The SF Fire Department responded to a call of a newspaper lit on fire on a sidewalk at 10:15pm April 7th at California and Drumm streets in the FiDi. There were no witnesses.

Man found dead of heart attack after earlier Muni bus altercation

Police reported a "suspicious death" after a man, 75, was found dead of a heart attack on a Muni bus on April 7th near Kearny and Geary streets on the FiDi/Union Square border. It appears he was fighting with a woman, 53, over a seat, SFPD Officer Giselle Talkoff told us. The police report also cited an assault with a deadly weapon in the incident. 

According to an article in the San Francisco Examiner,  police responded to the call of the fight at about 2pm, but the man had left the scene. Shortly after that, around 2:13pm, SFPD got a call of a deceased passenger on another bus. Upon arrival, Talkoff told us, an officer recognized that the deceased matched the description of the subject involved in the earlier altercation.

"The victim allegedly had boarded the 30 line near Kearny and Geary and immediately passed out, according to Muni spokesman Paul Rose," the Examiner article noted. Police told the Examiner the man might have died as a result of injuries he suffered during the fight or from a heart attack. Both incidents are still under investigation.