San Francisco police report that they made two arrests early Thursday morning for armed robberies committed in the Mission District.
Early Thursday morning, at around 12:17 a.m., a 40-year old man approached a man with a camera on 16th Street and South Van Ness. The man, later identified by police as San Francisco resident Donnie Smith, punched the 33-year-old in the face and walked away with his camera.
Smith returned to punch the victim in the face again when he heard him calling the police. Police arrived on scene shortly and arrested Smith and booked him for felony robbery with dissuasion of a witness, meaning he tried to prevent the victim from reporting the incident to the police. The victim recovered his camera.
Also early Thursday morning, at 1:47 a.m., a 28-year old man, identified by police as Moises Chan, approached an 18-year-old on 16th and Mission Streets and threatened to stab him with a knife, if he didn’t hand in his cell phone. Chan stole the victim’s cell phone and fled on foot. Police found Chan, arrested him and booked him on felony robbery. Chan also had a warrant for stealing $75,000 and for local traffic violations.
Police also report the early Wednesday afternoon, at around 1 p.m., two men approached a 38-year-old woman who was walking in Clarion Alley. One of the men started to hit the woman in the head with a pipe while the other one took off with the woman’s bike. The woman refused to get medical attention for an injury to the head. Police report that her injuries were non-life-threatening. No arrests have been made.
If you have any information about any of the incidents described above you can leave an anonymous tip at Mission Station by calling 415-552-4558.
Crime is trauma and the county offers different services. Here is a link to a page of services.
Victims of violent crime can also contact the Trauma Recovery Center at UCSF.
