Willie Johnson, the man who was arrested after allegedly carrying four packs of stolen toilet paper out of a Noe Valley Walgreens in late January, was arraigned again Friday afternoon on nearly identical charges.
On April 2, Johnson again allegedly stole toilet paper — six packs this time, according to his attorney — from the same Noe Valley Walgreens, despite a court order requiring him to stay away from the store.
It was the same day a bed had finally become available for him at a San Francisco residential behavioral health treatment program.
Under Proposition 36, approved by voters in November 2024, Johnson’s three prior misdemeanor convictions and one felony conviction meant that he could face either a felony or a misdemeanor for the alleged toilet paper thefts in January and April.
In January, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged Johnson with a felony for petty theft, carrying a sentence of up to three years in state prison. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Geraldo Sandoval reduced this charge to a misdemeanor, a decision Jenkins lambasted on social media, calling out Judge Sandoval by name.
This time, however, Johnson’s felony charge of “organized retail theft” for stealing toilet paper was not reduced. Sandoval decided that Johnson would remain in custody without bail until his preliminary hearing next week.
The judge, speaking at the arraignment Friday afternoon, noted Johnson’s multiple incidents of alleged theft that had become, “for lack of a better word, a nuisance,” to the court. Johnson’s return to the Walgreens, despite a stay-away order, he said, posed a “public safety concern.”
Johnson also has pending cases for similar alleged thefts in San Mateo, which must be addressed separately.
Sandoval did, however, indicate that he is open to seeing Johnson return to treatment, where he will have access to the services his family and attorney agree he desperately needs.
In January, in social media posts about Johnson’s case, Jenkins suggested that his behavior was that of an emboldened criminal. His defense attorney, Ivan Rodriguez, remains adamant that his client is anything but.
“In every single incident when he was allegedly taking toilet paper, he has been delusional about what was currently happening and his surroundings,” Rodriguez said after the most recent arraignment. Police reports, he said, indicated that Johnson was having a mental breakdown.
At the time of his most recent arrest, Johnson was out of custody in an outpatient treatment program, which required him to check in with a clinician to receive medication. Prior to Johnson’s most recent arrest, Rodriguez said, Behavioral Health Court Judge Charles Crompton had suggested that Johnson needed a more robust treatment program.
On Friday afternoon, Johnson appeared in court wearing all orange. His bowed head and hunched shoulders veiled the reality that he was one of the tallest men in the room.
Johnson, his defense attorney Rodriguez said, was scared; he had to be coaxed into entering the courtroom. Still, he fist-bumped his attorney as he was taken away by a sheriff at the end of the proceedings.
This act of friendliness was a glimpse of the version of Johnson that had appeared in court for a status hearing less than two months ago.
‘The Charmin Man’
On Feb. 21, Johnson was out of custody, dressed in soft, all-black sweats. He was accompanied by a social worker and a loved one who said she’d known him his whole life.
Johnson, the loved one said in the hallway outside Department 15, is a baptized Christian who went to Sunday school. Raised in low-income housing in San Francisco, “he was taught right from wrong.”
In high school, she continued, he never had a juvenile record. On the contrary, he was a good student, lovingly teased by relatives for being a “nerd” and a “square.”
Growing up, his ideas often impressed friends and family: “Boy, that’s genius!” she laughed as she described some of his ideas which, she added with a grin, she did not want shared with the public, as they have not yet been patented.
“Mr. Friendly,” is still Johnson’s nickname, his loved one added.
While she noted that mental illness runs in Johnson’s family, she said she didn’t start noticing signs that Johnson was struggling until his late teens. But when he came home saying he had just played basketball, professionally, with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Johnson’s problems became impossible to ignore.
Even now, she said, Johnson remains a “sweet individual.” He was “just dealt a bad hand.”
“Sometimes, the law doesn’t account for certain things happening, like homelessness and mental illness,” Rodriguez sighed.
Among the employees of the Noe Valley Walgreens, he said, Johnson has a different nickname: “the Charmin man.”
Rodriguez says he’s determined to get everyone — from San Francisco’s deputy district attorneys to San Mateo’s judges — on board with a new treatment plan for Johnson.
He asked: “How is it that we have a community of people that know him, know what he does, and know what he’s dealing with, and yet we can’t take action to get him the services we need?”
These cases are hard. But the solution to someone who is large and delusional and keeps committing crimes, is not to let him keep stealing from the Walgreens near my house.
It would have been much better if progressives had focused on providing mandatory treatment to those who are mentally ill vs just releasing them. The public has no interest in mentally ill criminals walking around on the streets until something more serious occurs.
“It would have been much better if progressives had focused on providing mandatory treatment to those who are mentally ill vs just releasing them.”
That’s a legal system issue, not a political “choice”. Learn.
I’m glad to see that judge finally take his actual job seriously. He seemed to think he was still working for the public defender’s office.
There’s a reason the DA represents “the people.” We need to be protected from folks who ignore judges’ orders and keep committing the same crimes.
ML does it again. Attempts to have the reader feel bad for this guy. The judge got played the last time and finally had enough. This guy “allegedly” steals in S.F. and SM county. Numerous convictions and I’m still supposed to believe he’s innocent ? Nah. Lock him up. We need out stores to stay open and criminals like this lead to more and more businesses closing.
The choice is not between releasing him or the gulag. There is nuance.
Delusional, repeat offender, stay away orders, cases in San Mateo. This is someone who needs to be held in the system – whether jail helps him or not.
Cases in San Mateo and San Francisco. Seems like he gets around quite well despite being, “delusional about what was currently happening and his surroundings.”
It’s true Brandon. You can always identify someone with mental illness because they just stay in one place. So obviously this guy is running a toilet paper theft operation. And his attorney and people that know him are guilty of aiding and abetting. We can’t have this in our community.
No. Lock him up. Stealing is wrong and I DON’T want to hear any excuses about his mental condition. He’s a grown-up now and he is responsible for his choices. I couldn’t care less about what a wonderful child he WAS. Let these people who supposedly care about him repay society for all he has cost it. It might turn out to be surprisingly expensive. Let them be the ones who wait with open arms the NEXT time he walks out of prison so they can give him all of the love and care he supposedly needs. I have a feeling these people will be long gone when he gets back out.
Ogre seems like an apt name for you. Is there a difference between an ogre and a troll? It must be nice to never have done anything wrong in your life or had a loved one or friend mess up and make bad decisions, or have anyone you care about suffer from mental illness. That would be nice, and is so rare. But it also explains your complete lack of empathy and your rabid desire to drop the hammer on an individual who is obviously in need of help.
If he’s mentally ill, he’s not going to take his medicine in jail nor in a mental health facility. The only thing he knows is to steal toilet paper from Walgreens and sell it on Mission Street for five bucks a pop.
It’s very 2025 San Francisco when a homeless man with mental health issues faces up to three years in state prison for stealing something to literally wipe his ass with. Even if he’s selling it on the street, these are very minor crimes. People wonder where all the money in the SF budget goes, it goes to stupid pointless prosecutions like this, that don’t work or even address the issues with his man. Shame on Jenkins, she sounds like an abusive freak in this case, just sucking up to the Mayor’s neo-conservative fanbase. Gross.
A person struggling with getting services in the city, who was born and raised here. Stealing toilet paper from Walgreens, could be sent to PRISON for three years. Make it make sense Brooke Jenkins. She should be ashamed. I do not know how the DA can live with themselves and sleep at night. Shameful.
Maybe you should rewrite the lead of this story, so it would be a little more truthful: “District Attorney Brooke Jenkins Proven Right, and Judge Geraldo Sandoval Proven Wrong (Again). This time in the case of Willie Johnson. After previously releasing Mr. Johnson without consequences for stealing (and after he had committed this crime at least 5 times in San Francisco and more times in San Mateo. (So many times, that we at the Progressive Mission Local don’t want our readers to know.) Even the judge was shamed into actually putting Mr. Johnson in jail after he stole again, from the exact same store, even when the judge specifically ordered Mr. Johnson not to steal from that store again!
In other news, Mission Local blames capitalism for the closing of stores in San Francisco.