San Francisco police have arrested a 32-year-old San Francisco man, whose name has not yet been released, in connection with three recent sexual assaults on 24th Street.
Police said they arrested the suspect at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at Bernal Dwellings after receiving a tip from a citizen. It’s not clear at this time whether the suspect lives in Bernal Dwellings, but police said that he resides in the Mission District.
“This is old-fashioned police work. We were able to identify the suspect with information from a tip, then looked at surveillance. We were able to narrow it down further and then we were able to get him,” said Lieutenant Jason Fox, who worked on the case and was present when the suspect was arrested.
“I know it’s a huge relief for the community that he was apprehended,” Supervisor Scott Wiener said at a police conference Friday evening.
In the first incident, which took place on June 17, 2011, a woman was walking on South Van Ness Avenue between 24th and 25th streets when she was approached from behind by the suspect and bear-hugged, police said. She was then thrown to the ground and dragged approximately 60 feet to an area between a vehicle and a residence, where she was sexually assaulted and robbed of her property.
On Nov. 18, 2011, another woman was violently attacked from behind as she was walking along 24th Street near Potrero Avenue. She was then sexually assaulted and robbed, police said.
On Dec. 8, 2011, a woman was walking along 24th Street near Fair Oaks when she was attacked, sexually assaulted and robbed, according to police.
Inspector Joseph Nannery said that one victim was in her 20s, another in her early 30s, and another in her 50s.
The victims have been notified and expressed relief that a suspect has been detained, police said at the conference.
San Francisco police worked with the FBI and Daly City police, and followed dozens of leads before making an arrest. They were able to identify the suspect as a person of interest because of DNA evidence.
The man was taken to county jail on charges of assault, kidnapping and robbery. Police said his name will be released once he is officially booked.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article called the tipster a resident. To avoid confusion, we changed it to citizen because it’s not clear that the tipster is a resident of Bernal Dwellings.
This whole narrative sorta weirds me out. Especially the deathly silence aside from hyperbole from any so-called “voice of authority.”
no snitching doesnt(and didnt)mean someone wasnt out there looking to slice him real good and leave him laying around to explain himself at three am with a snapped bone or two
The Bernal Dwellings connection will surprise no one who lives in the neighborhood. It’s important for SFPD and the media to say no more about the citizen tipster. You would not imagine that, given the nature of these crimes, the “no snitching” rule would be in force, but it is. It always is.
Thanks to MissionLoc@l for your great reporting throughout this nightmare. You’ve kept the neighborhood aware and informed.
Hallelujah! I live between two of the crime scenes and haven’t felt safe in weeks. I hope this IS indeed the attacker in all 3 incidents and I hope he is put away for as long as possible. Life sentence would be ideal.
Great news….
Hmmmmm….. The whole story just changed
And what’s the third assault?
Thank you for all your comments. Police first reported that the suspect was arrested in two sexual assaults. They then confirmed that he was connected to three sexual assaults so we updated the story.
thanks for keeping us posted
Thats kind of poor reporting
The first one was November 18th, the second in December.
Your dates are incorrect in this story.
Are those dates correct?
I thought it was November and December….. Not June