San Francisco City Hall gave Jason “JP” Peterson a commendation on July 21 for running a Mid-Market boxing gym that steers young people away from crime. Weeks earlier, on August 19, a Santa Clara County jury had convicted the 52-year-old of felony kidnapping, dissuading a witness, reckless driving and vandalism stemming from an April 2025 incident involving a woman he was dating. Peterson is now set to be sentenced on September 28.
The gap between city praise and courtroom findings was first detailed by The San Francisco Standard, which reported that prosecutors said Peterson followed the woman he was dating to San Jose, forced her into the passenger seat of a vehicle, and tried to run her off the road. According to the Standard's reporting, he then grabbed her by the throat when she attempted to leave the car, pried open the door of her damaged vehicle, and stole her phone before fleeing on foot. The woman hid at a school afterward, the outlet reported.
A Commendation Rooted in Redemption Narrative
Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents the Mid-Market district where Peterson's gym, Abaddon Fight Club, sits at 1005 Market Street, authored the resolution honoring Peterson and called him “a credit to the city and county,” according to the Standard's account. Dorsey, a former police spokesman, praised Peterson for “representing San Francisco with excellence” and for training young boxers through the gym's affiliated youth program. Mayor Daniel Lurie also celebrated Peterson, writing in January that “we need places like Abaddon Fight Club if downtown is to be a place people live, work, play, and learn,” per the same reporting. Assemblymember Matt Haney likewise celebrated Peterson, the Standard noted.
Abaddon Fight Club operates as a small boxing gym with an affiliated non-profit program aimed at giving local youth structured alternatives to street crime, according to the gym's own description. Peterson has described himself as a reformed ex-convict who helps young people avoid the wrong path, and he told the Standard in July that his prison terms for drug dealing, stalking, and threatening a girlfriend gave him time to reflect on his choices. Dorsey, for his part, said he hopes Peterson finds redemption, adding that “the possibility of redemption is always available to people,” the Standard reported.
A Criminal Record Predating the Praise
Peterson is a former Hells Angels member with a long criminal record, according to the Standard. Federal authorities alleged he was arrested in a 2006 raid on the San Francisco Hells Angels' Potrero Hill clubhouse; the Drug Enforcement Administration had charged him that April, at age 32 and as an officer of the club's San Francisco chapter, with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and with money laundering following Bay Area-wide raids. In October 2005, a federal grand jury in Las Vegas had already named Peterson in a 32-count superseding indictment charging 44 Hells Angels members with violent crime in aid of racketeering and firearms offenses tied to a deadly 2002 casino clash with the rival Mongols motorcycle club in Laughlin, Nevada, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Peterson pleaded guilty to one count of the federal indictment in San Francisco's U.S. District Court in September 2008, court records reviewed via GovInfo show. In 2017, he was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in San Mateo County for threatening an ex-girlfriend from behind bars, per the Standard's reporting.
Charges Dropped, Then Refiled
Peterson was arraigned on the Santa Clara County charges on June 2, 2025, according to the Standard. The district attorney's office dismissed the case in December 2025, in part due to the victim's lack of cooperation, before refiling it on April 6, 2026. Trial began on July 28, 2026, and the jury reached its verdict on August 19 despite the victim's recantation. The woman, identified in the Standard's reporting as Christiarne Winkworth, said she never told anyone that Peterson kidnapped her or that she feared for her life, and said she did not call police herself. Winkworth wrote a letter to the judge ahead of sentencing claiming Peterson did not commit any crimes, said she does not consider herself a victim and is not asking the court to punish him, and attributed the incident to a mental health crisis and drugs in her system that day.
Why Prosecutors Pressed Forward Anyway
California's “no-drop” prosecution policy gives district attorneys exclusive authority to pursue domestic violence charges even when an alleged victim recants or refuses to testify, according to the Bulldog Law firm. In such cases, prosecutors often turn to what's known as evidence-based prosecution — relying on 911 recordings, body-camera footage, injury photographs and excited utterances instead of victim testimony, per Elite Criminal Defense. National research on domestic violence prosecutions has found that victim recantation or non-cooperation occurs in a majority of cases, frequently driven by fear, financial dependence or emotional coercion, according to a guide published by the End Violence Against Women International organization.
Rebekah Wise, who leads the family violence unit at the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, said domestic violence can hide behind a public image of success and status, the Standard reported. Wise added that Peterson's reputation does not determine whether he will be held responsible for domestic violence. Peterson's attorney, John Alcala, represented him at trial, according to the Standard's coverage.
What's Next
Under California Penal Code 207, simple kidnapping is a serious felony and a strike offense under the state's Three Strikes law, carrying a potential sentence of three, five or eight years in state prison along with a fine of up to $10,000, according to the Shouse Law Group. Dissuading or intimidating a witness under Penal Code 136.1 can add up to four more years, per Eisner Gorin LLP. Peterson is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, when a judge will determine how much of that exposure he actually faces — even as his commendation from San Francisco City Hall stands on the record alongside the conviction.
