SFPD Central Station Capt. David Lazar was back to work this week after being hit by a drunk driver and injured on Oct. 12th. He writes about the incident in his Captain's Newsletter, and addresses the topic of driving under the influence.
"It is not worth being arrested, losing your license, having fines to pay and more importantly, the consequence of injuring or killing another because of a bad decision," he writes.
Capt. Lazar also reports that officers are focused on not only the top five violations that cause the most collisions in the district, but the top intersections for collisions as well. They are: Battery/Pine, Bay/Midway, Bay/Polk, Hyde/Post, Kearny/Bush, Leavenworth/Sutter, Montgomery/Washington and Pine/Taylor.
(Focus on the Five is a data-driven traffic enforcement strategy with the goal of issuing 50 percent of tickets for the five most common causes of traffic injuries: unsafe speed, unsafe turning, pedestrian right-of-way violations, red light running and unsafe starting or backing up.)
Now for this week's crime recap, pulled from SFPD's recent reports.
Man pepper sprayed, robbed of camera
A man, 28, was pepper sprayed during a robbery at 12:20pm Oct. 16th at Francisco and Hyde streets on Russian Hill. A male suspect—African American, five feet, eight inches tall, with short black hair, wearing a blue hoodie and dark pants—approached the victim, pepper sprayed him and tried to take his camera. The victim refused to release the camera, so the suspect pushed him to the ground and was able to force the camera from his hands. The suspect then jumped into a waiting vehicle (a silver, four-door 2000 Toyota Camry) and departed in an unknown direction.
Arson in an alley
An arson was reported in Jackson Square when units responded to a call of smoke in an alley near the unit block of Columbus Avenue at noon on Oct. 18th. SFFD was on scene and extinguished the fire.
Teenagers mugged for purse
Two women, both age 19, were walking up Powell Street from Hallidae Plaza in Union Square at 8:17pm Oct. 18th when three women and a man, all about 20–25 years old, approached them from behind. One suspect punched the first victim in the face, causing her to fall and strike her head on the ground. The suspect then grabbed the victim's purse off of her shoulder. A second suspect was unsuccessful in grabbing the second victim's purse. All suspects fled northbound on Powell Street and got away with a purse containing a wallet, ID card, credit cards, car keys and a cell phone. The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
Hot prowl burglary leads to shooting
At 11:45pm Oct. 18th, a man, 73, heard someone break into his house and open his bedroom door on the 700 block of Bay Street in Fisherman's Wharf. He went downstairs with his handgun and shot the intruder in the knee and then escorted him out of his residence. The suspect, a 54-year-old man, was found a block away and taken into custody, and transported to San Francisco General Hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
Man seriously hurt in brutal beating
A beating outside of the King of Thai Noodle House (1268 Grant Ave.) at 12:45am Oct. 19th left a 59-year-old man from Vallejo with life-threatening injuries. The victim got into an argument with two men, age 20–30, and they went outside, where the two suspects attacked the man, who lost consciousness. He was found with a large cut to the back of his head, facial cuts and bruises and a possible traumatic brain injury. He was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries but has since been released. The suspects fled. More details from a witness are in our earlier report.
Robber grabs bus driver's phone
A bus driver, 47, was sitting on the bus waiting for his passengers and looking at his phone at 9:35pm Oct. 19th at Stockton and Sutter streets in Union Square when a suspect, a man of about 20–25, reached into the driver side window and forcefully grabbed the phone. The driver chased him, but lost him.
Two men snatch purse; drag woman with car
At 9:38pm Oct. 19th in the 1500 block of Sansome Street near the Embarcadero, two men robbed a woman, 18, of her purse. The first suspect approached her, grabbed her purse and got into 1990s four-door sedan, either dark teal or blue/green, where a second suspect was waiting. As the suspects drove off, the victim grabbed the door handle and was dragged a few feet before she let go. They took her purse containing a wallet and earrings. She suffered bruising and scratches to her side and was transported to Seton Medical Center.
Yet another purse snatching
A man of about 30–40 approached a woman, 26, on the 400 block of Lombard Street in North Beach at 12:17am Oct. 20th and threatened her. He grabbed her purse, and after a brief struggle, punched her, stole her purse—containing her cell phone—and fled the scene.
Man mugged of cell phone
Also in North Beach the next night, a man, 50, was mugged around midnight on Oct. 21st on the 300 block of Green Street. A man of about 20 approached him, brandished a black semi-automatic handgun, and demanded the victim's cell phone, then fled the scene.
And another purse snatching
In a story that's too familiar this week, a man got out of a black Dodge Charger at Hyde and Beach streets in Fisherman's Wharf at 6:15pm Oct. 21st, grabbed a woman's purse, returned to the car and fled. The victim, age 67, fell and struck her head during the robbery. She complained of a bump to the head and pain to her head and neck and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital.
Federal officers thwart mugging
Ending on a positive note, U.S. Police Federal Reserve Officers at the Federal Reserve Bank on Market and Spear streets in the FiDi apprehended a suspect in a mugging at 11:44pm Oct. 22nd. Two 16-year-old males approached a 23-year-old man, and the first suspect put an Airsoft gun under his shirt, pointed it at the victim and demanded that he hand over his wallet and cell phone. The officers saw the crime in progress and detained both suspects until SFPD officers arrived on scene. The victim's belongings were recovered.
