Video obtained by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office confirms Mission Local reporting that a San Francisco police officer lunged at scooter-rider Edwin Adams with a “football tackle” in the seconds before the 56-year-old crashed, fatally striking his head on a metal pole.
Adams fled from police officers on an electric scooter on Oct. 12 at 11:24 a.m. He was wanted on a warrant after allegedly failing to charge his ankle monitor.
Police initially told Mission Local and other news outlets that Adams’ death occurred after he “collided with a street fixture,” and did not disclose any police involvement beyond the fact that officers pursued him. Witnesses, however, told Mission Local that Adams died after police tackled him off the scooter.
The public defender’s office said it chose to investigate Adams’ death after initial reporting by Mission Local. After seeing three witnesses quoted whose accounts differed from police statements, Angela Chan, an assistant chief at the office, said, “We knew we had to look into what happened.”
The crash occurred at a bus stop at Mission and Eighth streets in SoMa. In surveillance camera footage obtained from a building across the street, a man in dark clothing — presumably Adams — can be seen riding a scooter in the middle of Mission Street toward the intersection of Mission and Eighth, pursued by a gray sedan.
As the rider approaches the intersection, a man exits the passenger door of what appears to be an unmarked police car blocking the lane in front of the rider. The man runs towards the scooter rider and lunges at him with arms extended.
San Francisco Police Department Statement
On October 12, 2026, at approximately 11: 24am, SFPD officers identified an adult male wanted for a warrant in the area of Mission and 8th Streets. As the officers attempted to apprehend the suspect, the suspect fled on a scooter.The suspect then collided with a street fixture and suffered injury. Officers rendered aid and paramedics arrived on scene and transported the suspect to a local hospital. Despite the lifesaving efforts of the medical staff, the suspect was declared deceased in the hospital.
Video shows the tackler hit the ground. Roughly two seconds later, the scooter rider crashes, though the actual collision is not caught on video. The footage, however, shows the aftermath of the crash with the rider prone against the bus stop at Mission and Eighth.
A second sedan, which also appears to be an unmarked police vehicle that had pursued the scooter rider, is then seen passing the fallen rider, crossing into the opposing flow of traffic on Mission Street. Moments later, a marked police vehicle enters the frame.
The San Francisco Police Department has not yet identified the officers involved nor has it released body camera footage of the incident or the police report, citing ongoing investigations.
A police department spokesperson declined to comment on the video of Adams’ death, citing an active investigation within the district attorney’s Independent Investigations Bureau, an office dedicated to “police accountability” that reviews uses of force by police.
Adams was arrested in May of this year for allegedly possessing a controlled substance for sale. He was placed on an ankle monitor while awaiting trial.
According to Superior Court records, the sheriff’s office — which oversees people on ankle monitors — demanded warrants for Adams’ re-arrest in four separate instances, all for violations of his release agreement. Three times, he was arrested and, shortly after, released on an ankle monitor.
The fourth and last of these warrants was issued on Oct. 8, four days before Adams’ death. Adams’ attorneys say the warrant was issued because his ankle monitor ran out of battery.
On Oct. 12, police officers encountered Adams. According to the initial police statement, “officers identified an adult male wanted for a warrant” and, as they tried to arrest him, he began fleeing on an electric scooter.
The public defender’s office says that it was not aware of any warrant for Adams’ arrest. It is not clear whether Adams knew of the warrant, either, his attorneys added. Sheriff’s warrants related to ankle monitors are relayed to police and to the district attorney’s office, not to defense attorneys, and Adams had no other outstanding warrant.
SFPD policy directs officers to treat pursuits of people on electric scooters as if they were on-foot pursuits. The police cite unique difficulties in chasing scooters, which have the potential to outmaneuver and escape officers on foot or in vehicles.
The public defender’s office has submitted a complaint to the Department of Police Accountability, the city’s law enforcement watchdog, requesting that the incident be further investigated.
Public defenders wrote that the officers involved used excessive force and charged that the SFPD’s failure to disclose its officers’ involvement in Adams’ death “damaged SFPD’s reputation and credibility.”
Isn’t the story that it’s the judge’s fault for letting this person who is a known risk be released from custody?
In doing so the judge put the police officers at risk of injury, the judge caused what appears to be a high risk chase, and in the end the judge caused the death of someone who was in the criminal justice system.
Or is it just another story about another junkie down the drain -as is inevitable?
Thank you for covering this. It’s absolutely critical that Mission Local keeps reporting on the story and justice response, since apparently accountability would not be happening without a spotlight.
It’s absurd that police would think it’s appropriate to tackle a non-violent offender off of a moving vehicle, regardless of whether his ankle monitor wasn’t charged or if he had bipped a car. There is no reason this death should have happened.
Its absurd that you wouldn’t recognize that someone who violated his probation 4 times and was fleeing from police was an imminent threat to public safety.
Let me finish your sentence, so maybe you will realize what you are saying.
“Its absurd that you wouldn’t recognize that…; therefore, he deserves the death penalty on the spot”.
Resisting arrest and seeking to escape from cops are inherently risky behaviors. You cannot reasonably expect the cops to respond to that without using force.
Is he more a threat to public safety than a CEO who fucked two women he wasn’t married to and effectively was the patsy of billions of dollars of chips being smuggled out of the country?
SF doesn’t care about white collar crime but this comment section loves to see a black man get violently tackled so they can clutch their pearls and eep to safety.
Bad, antiquated SFPD policy. Scooters use the roads like motor vehicles, except when it suits them. Then they hop on the sidewalk and endanger pedestrians. Then they go back on the streets weaving in and out of traffic and use x-walks whenever they feel like it. They need to be regulated like motor vehicles. They are not pedestrians. Having said that, SFPD unmarkeds would have been smarter if they had called a marked to assist.
We’re supposed to be against FLOCK cameras – that we can have (some) control over……
But some random video from a private source that is released to certain online “news” providers is solid gold? Get F-ing real.
“SFPD policy directs officers to treat pursuits of people on electric scooters as if they were on-foot pursuits.”
Well yes, and a football-type tackle surely would be appropriate to detain a felon attempting to evade arrest on foot. If this is a problem, then it is the policy that is at fault and not the officer following that policy.
As an aside, why is it the Public Defender’s job to investigate and prosecute an alleged crime?
The public defender is involved because the deceased was being prosecuted for a crime and was therefore their client. If I was killed by police while awaiting trial I would definitely want my lawyer to complain about it.
You’d think if they didn’t have anything to hide, they’d have told the truth up front about what happened. That’s the issue. SFPD is not trustworthy as an organization.
Just 1 hr. Ago I was nearly hit by a Lime scooter rider going about 35 mph on the 1400 block of Market st.— on the sidewalk— with the green bike lane 20 feet to his left. This kind of riding happens along Market St. with impunity. Is the City doing any enforcement? Do the so-called Ambassadors or security personnel do anything? No of course not!
Of course the SFPD didn’t disclose. That is Standard Operating Procedure endorsed by both the DA and the Mayor.
It may be a tough job but honesty, professionalism and full disclosure can’t be slicked over if you want anyone to have faith in the uniform.
So the police officer lunged at the guy who was fleeing apprehension pursuant to a warrant, but he missed? And then the guy crashed into a pole? Case closed. If the officer had driven the guy into the pole, that’s still a 99% likelihood of no misconduct as the police obviously have the right to pursue and bring down someone who is fleeing arrest – fleeing from the cops on a vehicle does not convey some sort of stay out of jail free status – although there would be room to argue that the officer intentionally or recklessly drove him into the pole. But the guy just crashed into the pole when was was fleeing officers seeking to arrest him subject to a warrant. It’s a terrible outcome, but if you flee from the cops under those circumstances and then crash, that’s no fault of the cops.
ML, I’m curious – the article says the public defender obtained this video, but there is no statement from them about what the video shows. Did they refuse to provide a comment?
I walked by shortly after and people on the street told me what actually happened. So glad that video has come out. The police story was bull.
So they’ll tackle someone riding lawfully on the street, but if I push someone riding a scooter or bicycle down the sidewalk in the Castro, I catch a charge? It’s fun living in a city where only some rules apply to some people some of the time.
If you are evading police, you are not riding lawfully
Then I hope SFPD start tackling the losers who scoot and bike on the sidewalks. And tackle every single one of them.
There is no epidemic of pedestrians being hit on sidewalks by cyclists but there is an epidemic of pedestrians getting hit on sidewalks by e-scooters.
Idiots.
According to Anna, he was a “non-violet offender”. Maybe I missed it in the article, but they didn’t elaborate on his arrest history. We someone with an ankle monitor and a warrant runs from the the cops, he could be digging his own grave.
The Police are not judge and Jury nor should they be. He was awaiting trial for drug possession, not convicted of anything. You don’t want to live in a world where SFPD gets to charge you and use that charge to justify your death. Had they been honest about things from the get go, this is a non issue but they lied – as cops do. Why lie?
He was evading police and repeatedly violated his conditions for release which is why he had a warrant out for his arrest.
Someone who repeatedly violates his conditions for release by leaving off his ankle monitor or not charging it is probably not up to anything good. The real problem here is that he was allowed to stay out when he violated his conditions.
“probably not up to anything good” is not a legitimate justification for killing him. Or jeopardizing his life.
Unfortunate outcome “but for”the actions of the deceased, committing crimes, awaiting trial outside of custody, failing to follow court orders of keeping monitor charged, fleeing police, and forgive me but a 56 years old on a scooter this would not have happened. If they are plainclothes officers do they wear body cams? Still the deceased is responsible for his actions
La «ley fuga».