Crime

New Video Shows D'Paris Williams Screaming in Pain, Unable to Walk Following SFPD Beating

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

We just received additional footage of the scene that unfolded Friday afternoon at Valencia Gardens.  We will update this post as new information comes forward.

UPDATE: KTVU is now reporting that the District Attorney has “discharged the case against Mr. Williams and another man pending further investigation.”

Neighbors, along with the ANSWER SF, are still planning a protest at Valencia Gardens and Mission Station Tuesday at 5pm.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Sidewalk Cyclist D'Paris Williams Charged With Assault With a Deadly Weapon, Bail Set at $143k

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

City College student D'Paris Williams, who was reportedly beaten unconscious by plainclothes SFPD officers for bicycling on the sidewalk, was arraigned in SF Superior Court this afternoon.  His bail was set at $143k and faces up to 12 years in state prison.  Here are the charges:

  1. Assault with a force likely to produce great bodily injury (CA Penal Code 245.(a)(1))
  2. Resistance causing death or serious bodily injury to a peace officer (CA Penal Code 148.10)
  3. Resisting executive officer by the use of force or violence (CA Penal Code 69)
  4. Willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician (CA Penal Code 148.(a))
  5. Riding bicycle on sidewalk (SF Transportation Code 7.2.12)

We have verified the charges by viewing the court report, but have been unable to corroborate the bail amount with the Court.

It's worth noting that his bicycle is being considered the deadly weapon.  His friends and family are maintaining his innocence, questioning why Williams would flee police when he has no criminal record and was only carrying a cupcake and juice.  SFPD stated “reasonable force was used by the officers to effect the arrest.”

Williams is scheduled to be back in court on Thursday.

UPDATE: KTVU is now reporting that the District Attorney has “discharged the case against Mr. Williams and another man pending further investigation.”

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

SFPD Assaults Black Cyclist, Discover He Was Only "Packing" a Cupcake and Juice [UPDATES]

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Photographer Travis Jensen reports that 21 20-year-old D'Paris Williams, a.k.a. “DJ,” a City College student, was assaulted by SFPD officers Friday afternoon for what appears to be no reason:

Yesterday afternoon, while riding his bicycle home from the Make A Wish Foundation's “Bat Kid” happenings, DJ was confronted by two undercover police officers in an unmarked vehicle at the Valencia Gardens Apartments in the City's Mission District. Apparently, the officers said something to DJ about riding his bicycle on the sidewalk as he was pulling up to his home in the complex. It is unclear whether the officers identified themselves or not, but did proceed to get out of their car, grab DJ from behind as he was entering the home and beat him for no apparent reason. A police search uncovered a cupcake and juice that DJ had just purchased from the corner store. Nobody has spoken to DJ since the incident occurred as he was immediately taken to S.F. General Hospital for treatment, and then to the 850 Bryant police station. So far, it appears no charges have been made against DJ either. There is building video surveillance footage of DJ's confrontation w/ police, but it that has yet to be released by housing authority. Furthermore, three residents came to DJ's aid when they saw officers beating him up, only to find themselves also under attack by officers. By this time, uniformed backup had arrived on the scene. Including DJ, a total of four individuals were beaten and arrested by officers.

As mentioned, after DJ was allegedly assaulted and taken to SF General, the Valencia Garden community spilled out into the street in protest of the violence.  Residents began filming and soon captured footage of officers attacking protesters.  Around 1:30, an officer can be seen punching a detained man on the ground:

That man, who can also be seen earlier in the video trying to pull an aggravated man away from officers and then being attacked, was later seen with his face bloodied:

We'll update as this story develops.

UPDATE 2:00pm: We're now getting more information about the incident.

We're told that the scene unfolded right as DJ was entering his house.  As he was questioned by undercover narcotic agents plainclothes officers from the Violence Reduction Team, the officer in the black baseball hat (pictured above) grabbed DJ and shoved his head into his front door.  DJ's sister, who was holding a newborn baby, was witness to the entire scene.  When she approached the door where DJ was being assaulted, a second officer pushed her.

They then dragged DJ into the street and punched him in the head until he was knocked out.  Others in lock-up with DJ report that he blacked out and has no recollection of what happened.  DJ is still in custody and not being allowed to speak to anyone; however, criminal charges are yet to be filed.

Currently two of the other three men who were arrested have been released.

We're told the man seen holding the cane in the video is a gay, HIV-positive man who needs his cane because of medical complications.  The police are continuing to hold him in custody, allegedly because his cane is being considered a “deadly weapon.”

Orlando (last name unknown), who had his face bloodied after pulling the man with the cane away from officers, was released “a few hours ago,” according to Travis Jensen.

UPDATE 7:45pm: We are still yet to receive a comment from SFPD about the incident.  We'll continue trying to reach someone from their Media Relations Department.

UPDATE 9:00am: SFPD just released this statement:

At approximately 3:41 PM Friday, officers from the Violence Reduction Team, working a plainclothes assignment attempted to stop a bicyclist in the area of Maxell and Rosa Parks for a California vehicle code infraction.  The suspect fled from the officers after they identified themselves as police.  The suspect attempted to flee into a residence.  The officers confronted the suspect near the doorway and requested additional units for assistance.  The suspect failed to comply with lawful orders from the officers and continued to resist the officers.  Reasonable force was used by the officers to effect the arrest.  During this incident, multiple subjects came from the rear of the residence and formed a hostile crowd around the officers.  One subject attempted to strike an officer with a cane, while another suspect bit an officer.  Two officers suffered non-life threatening injuries.  In total, 4 suspects were arrested. 2 felony and 1 misdemeanor arrests resulted in bookings.  One misdemeanor arrest resulted in a cite.

We have requested surveillance footage recorded by the SF Housing Authority and for comment on the officer who charged at a bystander. We'll update if we receive more word.

UPDATE 10:30am: SFPD denied our request for surveillance footage, saying:

The video surveillance is evidence for the assault and battery on the officers.

The officers have not been suspended.  There is a criminal investigation into the suspects that assaulted and battered the officers and resisted arrest.

Persons wishing to file a complaint may do so with the Office of Citizen's Complaints (OCC).

Williams is in court today facing four felony charges and one misdemeanor charge.  Orlando, who has been released, has reportedly claimed Williams has been in the infirmary most of the weekend and “looks like he was in a bad car accident.”

UPDATE 4:45pm: At Williams' arraignment at SF Superior Court this afternoon, his bail was set at $143k. Read on.

UPDATE 6:15pm: A new video showing Williams screaming in pain and unable to walk following the beating has been released.

UPDATE 9:30pm: KTVU is now reporting that the District Attorney has “discharged the case against Mr. Williams and another man pending further investigation.”

[Portrait by Travis Jensen]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Internet Drug Lord Behind Silk Road Arrested in SF

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Silk Road, the anonymous online drug market responsible for trafficking $1.2b in narcotics and $80 million in commission since it launched in early 2011, was shut down by the FBI today after it's 29-year-old owner, Ross Ulbricht (aka “Dread Pirate Roberts”), was taken into custody in his 15th Street apartment at the Glen Park Library.

The complaint, uncovered by journalist Brian Krebs, details the sites beginnings in a Hickory Street apartment and nearby Hayes Valley coffee shop, to its inevitable take down yesterday.  Accordingly, the government subpoenaed Google and Comcast to track his IP address, used his Google Plus and LinkedIn accounts to connect him to his pseudonym, and ultimately grabbed him through a forum post on an programming support site.  It even accuses Ulbricht of ordering the killing of users who blackmailed him:

You can read the entire complaint below, with the good stuff beginning on page 24:

[via The Verge]

Mona Caron's "Manifestation Station" Seized by Muni, Could Be Destroyed

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Mona Caron's brilliant futurist utility box, which was reported destroyed on Friday by Mission Mission, has been found in captivity in an “anonymous-looking” MTA building in the northeast corner of the Mission.  The reason?  Graffiti.  This utility box was graffiti.

Thanks for cleaning up the streets, Muni!

UPDATE: Paul Rose of SFMTA writes in:

The controller box was replaced after the completion of the Church & Duboce Rail Replacement project, as part of a system-wide upgrade of various electrical sectionalized switches and associated controller boxes. The urgency of replacing the switches was made apparent after the nine day shutdown at Church and Duboce, when one of the switches failed shortly after it was re-energized. To upgrade the switch at Church & Duboce, the associated painted box also had to be replaced. We are working to have the box re-painted by the artist. We anticipate this process will be complete within the next 3 months.

[via Hugh D'Andrade]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Bike Share Comes to the Mission! (via Bike Theft)

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Ever since the Bay Area Bike Share roll-out plan was unveiled, Mission residents have been fussing about the program's absence in the city's residential neighborhoods.  But where's there a demand, there's someone willing to fill it, and one of our city's many bolt cutter entrepreneur's did that.

According to @SFPDBikeTheft, one such thief was spotted cruising Capp Wednesday evening with the 44-pound ride concealed with toilet paper (and what looks to be a magic wand):

SFist adds that there there “no word yet on how the thieves managed to make off with the bike in the first place;” however, Officer Friedman of @SFPDBikeTheft indicates that Bike Share users are struggling to re-dock their bikes properly.

[@SFPDBikeTheft] [SFist]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

SFPD Finally Busts Up Mission Street Bicycle Chop Shop

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

The stolen bike chop shop under the freeway: we've all seen it, we all hate it—and they've been operating in broad daylight with impunity for years.  Fortunately, thanks to Meredith Obendorfer and @SFPDBikeTheft, the operation has been (finally) taken down.

Meredith fills us in:

On my ride to work yesterday, I saw a bicycle “chop shop” in its usual operating spot along 13th Street [at Mission], underneath the freeway. Fired up by the recent theft of my beloved mountain bike, I stopped and pulled out my phone to take a picture of the scums at work. While it was a potentially dangerous situation, I figured… if they chase me, what are they going to do, outsprint me?

I snapped a couple photos, gave the guy yelling at me the middle finger, rode away and took to the Interwebs. I tweeted out a picture, notifying @SFPDBikeTheft (which as you might now, is manned by an SFPD officer who has been advocating for SF cyclists with stolen bicycles.)

By 6pm yesterday evening, I received the following tweets in return from @SFPDBikeTheft, as well as from SFPD Mission Station, informing me that the area had been cleared up:

Pretty rad, right? I think this shows that SFPD is doing something about the recent epidemic around bicycle theft and effectively engaging with the community via social media.

Definitely rad. Thanks, Meredith!

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

The Real Problem with The Bold Italic's "The Real Problem With The Peter Shih Post"

— By Alan Fineberg |

Ideas worth shoveling.

Do you really want to push an influential tech leader's (my) buttons*? “Make” a lazy, hastily thrown together thinkpiece on how the real problem with techies lies with the “silent majority” in hopes of jumping in on a burgeoning story with a “fresh perspective.” That's the bigger problem here.

For the sake of context, I am compelled to summarize the lazy thinkpiece, which I luckily can do in one sentence: “Why don't all the 'good' tech people speak up in defense of San Francisco?” Or better yet, in the words of MLK Jr., “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” 

That's all there is to it! Wow what a lazy article. And in 600 words no less! Now you are enlightened. A new angle on a pressing controversy or whatever.

But needless, lazy, excessive, overwrought verbosity is not the real problem here. The real problem is that other writers from The Bold Italic remain mum on their employer's practice of commissioning sloppy, topical press cycle surfing. I'm sure many of these writers prefer to devote their time and energy to articles that will do more than simply generate pageviews while gently stroking the brain waves of an audience who would rather be watching TED talks. But it's because they remain silent, or continue shoveling more clickbait, that the sentiment against this entire publication is able to build such strength.

I do believe that The Bold Italic has altruistic missions, loves San Francisco, and wants people to know that, in a better world, they would never make flip lists that are really just a showcase for cutesy illustrations. But the silence is deafening compared to the middling showcase of uninspiring clickbait.

* I am the founder of slobonmylob.com, a leading lobster recipe website that generates $50,000 in lobster sales and ad revenue per month.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

"Huge Fight" Shuts Down 24th and Mission

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

According to Twitter Chatter, 24th and Mission was completely shut down last night by swarms of officers following a “huge fight.”  Anyone see what went down?

As Bike Theft Increases 70% Since 2006, Supervisors Look For Ways to Curb Trend

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Unclaimed stolen bicycles recovered by SFPD.  SFPD holds onto the bikes for 120 days, before selling them at auction or donating them to charity.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has finally figured out something that we've all long known: bike theft is a serious problem in the city.  It's such an epidemic that a report issued by the Board of Supervisors Budget & Legislative Analyst revealed that the value of the city's stolen bikes topped $4.63m for the year of 2012, and the theft rate in the Mission's legislative district increased 348% since 2010.

In fact, bike thefts outpace iPhone thefts 3:1, despite—as the SF Bike Coalition points out—iPhone theft “has gotten widespread media and police attention, while bike theft has not.”  (To be fair, iPhones help us do disruptively helpful things like fling cartoon birds at cartoon pigs and summon cabs, whereas bikes are only useful for fun and transportation.  Also, iPhone owners relentlessly complain about everything (battery life, AT&T, font choices, BART laborers, Tartine's lines, the Giants' 2013 season), so the police quite understandably don't want to be the other side of that tsunami of tears.  But I digress…)

The report states that many of the usual factors are fueling the trend: insufficient secure bike parking, people not knowing how to properly lock their bikes, owners not being able to identify their stolen bike for police recovery.  But more concerning is the lack of SFPD enforcement, confirming that bike theft is a relatively “risk-free crime” in SF:

There is no central SFPD approach to bicycle theft. While individual SFPD stations devote staff and resources to investigating bicycle theft as well as attempting to reconnect recovered bicycles with their owners, other stations devote little to no time investigating such cases. This is largely due to competing priorities and insufficient staffing levels. SFPD staff report that bicycle theft is typically a lower priority when other, more serious crimes are on the rise.

But instead of merely recognizing the problem, the Board of Supervisor's are looking to do something about it.  Supervisor Eric Mar, who initially called for the report and has been the victim of bike theft himself, added a $75,000 line item to this year's city budget to create a voluntary bike registration database, making it easier for SFPD to track stolen bicycles and reunite recovered bikes with their owners.  Additionally, the report calls for SFPD to create a dedicated bike theft unit, increase enforcement in bike theft hot spots, increase the number of undercover “bike-bating” sting operations to catch thieves, and create an online database of stolen bikes so buyers can determine if they are purchasing stolen goods.

You can read the entire 25 page report here.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

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