A police chase on San Jose Avenue this afternoon sent two suspects bailing out of a vehicle and fleeing into the backyards of the Fairmount area of Glen Park, according to residents and police.
Witnesses saw dozens of police, including officers from Daly City and a helicopter from the California Highway Patrol, swarming the area with rifles drawn after 5 p.m., going door to door, seeking two suspects. Officers at the scene confirmed they arrested one of the two after a police chase and search of the area.
One resident said he came face to face with one of the fleeing men, who tried to hop the fence while the resident was exercising.
“I yelled at him. He seemed more scared of me than I was of him,” the resident said. He told the man — whom he described as Black, in a white T-shirt and in his late 20s — not to come into his yard, and the man simply climbed over the fence into another yard.
Another resident, Judy Lepe, said she saw a young man in a white T-shirt jumping over her garbage can in her backyard.
“So I called 911,” she said. “It’s not a normal occurrence around here.” Within four minutes, police had surrounded the area with drones and guns drawn.
The suspects appeared to have fled from a gray Honda that was left surrounded by police cars and blocking traffic on San Jose Avenue. The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately return requests for comment.
David Emanuel, a nearby resident, said that officers hoisted a police dog into his yard and were “searching at gunpoint.” He believed that officers had found a suspect to arrest in a yard a few doors down, but he was ordered to get inside. Around 6:30 p.m., two officers were searching that nearby home.
Emanuel said that officers discovered a jacket, a glove, and what he believed was a bag in his backyard.
“It was definitely stashed in the bushes,” Emanuel said. “It certainly wasn’t in my backyard beforehand.”
Around 7 p.m., officers in an unmarked white truck were still driving up and down Chenery Street, searching for someone.
In February, another police chase resulted in a multi-vehicle crash near the same stretch of San Jose Avenue.
STOP CHASING PEOPLE. You have all the surveillance tech in the world, it’s WHOLLY UNNECESSARY to engage in pursuits that may harm innocent bystanders. SFPD needs to get lost, I’m so sick of their sh*t. DE-FUND, DISARM, DISBAND.
Hey Kurt, are they allowed to use “all the surveillance tech in the world?”
As someone who lost a friend who was hit by a car being chased by the police, I wholeheartedly agree. That car was not more valuable than his life.
They definitely wouldn’t be coming in my yard and ORDERING me to get inside. I’ll tell you that. Other than that – good job PD.