Man Injured In Hunters Point Shooting

SF: MAN HOSPITALIZED AFTER SHOOTING IN BAYVIEW DISTRICT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco police are investigating a shooting in the Bayview District Friday night that left one man hospitalized.

Police received reports of a shooting at about 10:40 p.m. near the intersection of Osceola Lane and La Salle Avenue.

Officers arrived to the scene to find a man suffering from a gunshot wound, and he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital.

The condition of the victim is unknown, and no arrests have been made, according to police

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Dead Body Found In Apartment Garbage Can

Body Found In SF Apartment Trash Bin
CBS 5 CrimeWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ― A body was found inside a plastic bag in a trash bin at an apartment building on Taylor Street Thursday, San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said.

The discovery was reported around noon at the building at 520 Taylor St.

The death is considered a homicide, and officers initially responded with caution, thinking the killer might still be in the building, Gittens said.

Police blocked off Taylor Street between Post and Geary streets and spent the early afternoon walking back and forth between the building's front entrance and an alleyway that separates the building from the Warwick Hotel.

Gittens said the body was found in a garbage bin on wheels inside the building. He said there is an entrance to 520 Taylor St. in that alleyway.

Police have not yet released the gender or age of the victim.

However, woman answering the phone at Les Nuits de Paris massage
parlor, located next to the entrance to the apartments, said she had seen the body and it was that of a man.

She asked not to be identified, and said the trash bin had nothing to do with the massage parlor, which police confirmed.

At about 2:10 p.m. police appeared to be reopening Taylor Street. Gittens said investigators will continue interviewing residents of 520 Taylor St. this afternoon.

Angela McClure, 28, who lives Post and Taylor streets, within the area that was cordoned off, came home from work and was unable to get to her apartment.

She said she saw at least one officer carrying an automatic weapon.

A passing couple visiting San Francisco from Texas briefly wondered whether a movie was being filmed.

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Chinese Gang Members Arrested For Assaults

SF: SUSPECTED YOUTH MEMBERS OF CHINESE GANG ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTS

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco police on Wednesday arrested eight teens they believe to be members of a Chinese gang responsible for several assaults on other youth in the city's Richmond and Taraval districts in recent weeks.

Seven youths and one 18-year-old, Duc Truong, all of San Francisco, were taken into custody Wednesday morning after search warrants were served at locations throughout the city, police said.

The suspects, thought to be members of the True Brothers gang, were targeting both rival gang members and non-gang members, according to police.

Five attacks took place over the past two months and involved the suspects attacking the victims with baseball bats and knives, according to police.

One victim suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.

The eight have all been charged with aggravated assault, use of a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, and one has also with robbery, according to police.

Anyone else who may have been a victim is asked to contact San Francisco police. Anyone with more information on the attacks can call the department's confidential tip line at (415) 575-4444.

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Man Falls To His Death While Running From Police - Brothels Show Increasing Presence In The Sunset - Suspect In Hell's Angels Killing Named

- A 38 year-old car-burglary suspect died on Telegraph Hill early today, after he jumped over a wall while running from police...not realizing that there was a 200 foot drop on the other side.

- Here's a chronicle article detailing a rise in brothels set up in rental homes in the Sunset district.

- A warrant was issued today for 35 year-old Chris Ablett, of Modesto, for the murder of the San Francisco Hell's Angels president, Mark "Papa Frisco" Guardado. Ablett is believed to be a member of the Mongols Motorcycle club.

- Also, two men were arrested yesterday for selling crack cocaine from within a food line for Glide Memorial Church in the Tenderloin. They had in their possession $8,000, at least 5 ounces of crack, and a stolen, loaded .45 caliber pistol. Their arrest was the result of an undercover sting operation aimed at drug dealers using the food line as a sanctuary and source of business.

Mission District Shooting Victim Dies At Hospital

SF: MALE VICTIM FROM THURSDAY SHOOTING INTO VEHICLE DIES AT HOSPITAL

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A man removed from life support after he and a woman were shot inside their car Thursday in San Francisco's Mission District was identified Monday by the San Francisco medical examiner's office as Giovanni Lechado, 28, of San Francisco.

Police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said Monday that Lechado was removed from life support at the hospital on Friday.

Lechado and the woman, who has not been named publicly, were shot at about 6:30 p.m. in the area of 18th and Bryant streets, while sitting inside their parked vehicle with a 4-month-old child, according to police.

Police said a man was witnessed fleeing the area in a compact silver or gray vehicle.

There was no update by police Monday on the condition of the woman, who also received life-threatening injuries, according to police. The child was uninjured.

The fatal shooting Friday night of 18-year-old Joshua Cameron, of San Francisco, in the city's Western Addition neighborhood brought San Francisco's homicide total to 73, according to Gittens. The city had 80 homicides at the same time last year, he said.

Police Monday also clarified that an Aug. 15 stabbing at a Tenderloin hotel was ruled a homicide by police, though the medical examiner's office has yet to officially rule the case a homicide, and the manner and cause of death are still pending.

The medical examiner's office on Friday released the victim's name -- Fidencio Salazar Jr., 56, of San Francisco -- in the hope that members of his family, whom investigators have been unable to reach, will contact authorities.

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Here's some more inforamtion from SFgate:

Authorities described Lechado as a "mid-level" member of the MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, street gang. They believe the slayings of two men later Thursday night may have been in retaliation for his shooting.

Lechado was shot near a bar that investigators say is popular with Sureño and MS-13 members. The two men shot to death three hours later, 19-year-old Noel Espinoza and Matthew Solomon, 23, were attacked outside a bar near 24th and Utah streets that is popular with the rival Norteño gang.

Two Shot In Potrero Hill

Two men shot Saturday on Potrero Hill

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, September 7, 2008

(09-07) 15:08 PDT SAN FRANCISCO - -- Two men sitting in a car were shot on San Francisco's Potrero Hill Saturday night. Both men suffered non life-threatening injuries.

The men, along with another man, were in the car at 23rd and Arkansas streets on Potrero Hill when a man approached the car on foot and began shooting around 9:15 p.m., according to Sgt. Wilfred Williams of the San Francisco Police Department.

The injured men then drove themselves to San Francisco General Hospital and were treated for their injuries. Williams said police do not believe the shooting is related to the recent spate of violence in the nearby Mission District.

Police have not made an arrest in the shooting and Williams described the suspect as a man in his 30s.

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Drive-By Shooting Injures Man In The Mission

SF: UPDATE: 19-YEAR-OLD MAN INJURED IN EARLY MORNING SHOOTING

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A 19-year-old San Francisco man was injured in a shooting in the city's Mission District this morning, less than 24 hours after and about nine blocks away from where two men were fatally shot Thursday, police said.

The teenage man was walking west on 23rd Street at Treat Avenue in a group of four when at least one suspect in an unknown vehicle traveling south on Treat Avenue shot at the group at about 4:45 a.m., San Francisco police Sgt. Wilfred Williams said.

The 19-year-old was struck with gunfire and transported to San Francisco General Hospital. He is expected to survive his injuries, Williams said.

The three others in the group were not injured, according to Williams.

Police are investigating whether the shooting was gang-related, Williams said. No suspects have been arrested.

The double-homicide Thursday night, which marked the fifth and sixth murders in the Mission District in the past two weeks and the 10th and 11th homicides so far this year in that area, claimed the lives of San Mateo County resident Matthew Solomon, 23, and Noel Espinoza, 19, of San Francisco, according to police.

Solomon and Espinoza were shot by two men with handguns at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday at 24th and Utah streets, according to police. A woman who was with them was also shot and survived.

The suspects then fled in a silver minivan, police said.

No arrests have been made in the case.

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Shooting Kills One In The Western Addition

SF: POLICE INVESTIGATING FATAL SHOOTING IN WESTERN ADDITION NEIGHBORHOOD

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Police today are investigating a shooting that left an 18-year-old man dead in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood Friday night, a sergeant said.

Officers responded to the area of McAllister and Fillmore streets at about 7:15 p.m. Friday on reports of shots being fired, San Francisco police Sgt. Wilfred Williams said.

Upon arrival, officers found Joshua Cameron, who had been shot by an unknown black male suspect, who is possibly in his 20s. Cameron, 18, was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Williams said.

Cameron was walking southbound on Fillmore Street at McAllister Street with someone else when they were approached by the suspect who began shooting at them, and Cameron was struck by gunfire.

Alan Pringle, the chief investigator at San Francisco medical examiner's office, said Cameron was a resident of the city.

Police are seeking the public's help in locating possible witnesses. Anyone with information can contact the homicide department at (415) 553-1145, or those who wish to remain anonymous can call (415) 575-4444.

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Shooting Victims Identified; Police To Step Up Presence In The Mission

2 shot to death in latest Mission violence

Steve Rubenstein,Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writers

Friday, September 5, 2008

(09-05) 17:47 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Two friends who had tried to escape troubled lives by finding work at Goodwill Industries were shot and killed late Thursday on the edge of San Francisco's Mission District, the latest spasm of violence in an area where six people have been slain in the past two weeks.

Police announced several measures Friday to respond to the violence, including adding foot and car patrols to Mission District streets and deploying more gang task force members to the neighborhood. Community groups active in the Mission said they would also be working to head off what they feared could be more violence this weekend.

The slain men were with a woman at 24th and Utah streets about 9:45 p.m. Thursday when two men walked up and opened fire, hitting all three, police said. The gunmen got into a waiting minivan that drove east on 24th Street, investigators said.

The shooting happened a couple of doors down 24th Street from where one of the victims, 19-year-old Noel Espinoza, lived. Goodwill said the other slain man was a co-worker, Matthew Solomon, 23, of San Francisco. The woman, a 22-year-old San Francisco resident whose name was withheld, is expected to survive.

The double slaying happened about 3 1/2 hours after someone opened fire on a man and a woman sitting in a car with a 4-month-old girl in the backseat at 18th and Bryant streets, police said. The two adults were seriously wounded, but the child was not hit.

Police did not release descriptions of the attackers in either shooting or details of the investigations.

Community members believe both incidents were gang-related, with the second shooting a retaliation for the first one, said Santiago Ruiz, executive director of Mission Neighborhood Centers, who has led violence prevention efforts for more than three decades.

"In the last four weeks, the level of violence has been unprecedented," said Ruiz, who for the first time canceled his agency's after-school program Friday for fear of violence. "It's sad to see this total disregard for life. Not knowing who might be walking by, it raises a certain amount of fear."

Police step up patrols

Authorities said they would take several steps in response to the violence, including increasing beat patrols along Mission Street, adding cars to parts of the Mission and Ingleside neighborhoods and doubling the number of school resource officers at Mission High School.

"The violence in the Mission is unacceptable," Police Chief Heather Fong said at a press conference. "People involved in gang and drug activity have no regard for the community."

The slain men worked at Goodwill's store and processing center at Mission and Van Ness Avenue and were friends, said chief executive officer Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez. They had recently been promoted to permanent positions, and Alvarez-Rodriguez praised them as "exemplary employees who had really turned their lives around."

Solomon had been featured as employee of the month in a recent company newsletter and Espinoza was scheduled to receive the same honor in the next issue, she said.

In the publication, both men said they had been in trouble with authorities and that their work at Goodwill had helped them find new directions.

"I did a lot of things in the past that got me into trouble," Solomon said. "When I came to Goodwill in August 2007 I was on parole, homeless and hardly involved with my two children. I was like a part-time father that wandered in and out of their lives."

'Helped me become a man'

Solomon said his work at Goodwill had "helped me become a man and provide for my two sons, Jayvion and Makai."

Espinoza, in his newsletter interview, said he had been referred to Goodwill after being arrested for selling drugs. Under a program for first-time offenders, the charges against Espinoza would have been dropped if he completed a year of work, training and community service.

"Now I see that I'm capable of much more than selling drugs on the street," Espinoza said.

Hours after the shootings, Mission District parents and community leaders started reaching out to youths at risk of being caught up in a cycle of retributive violence.

Near where Espinoza and Solomon were shot, a group of young people, some heavily tattooed, kept vigil beside a makeshift shrine.

An older woman drove up, got out of her car and approached the group urgently.

'Don't take revenge'

"I come to you as a mother. Please listen to me," Marta Gonzalez said in Spanish as she passed out fliers calling for peace in the neighborhood. "I have a son, too, just like you. Please, I implore you, don't take revenge. "

Gonzalez said she was a friend of Espinoza's mother and that she was heartbroken when she heard of his killing. She decided to circulate the fliers on her way to work.

"It's the mothers who suffer," said Gonzalez, who said she has two sons, ages 18 and 20. "There's this rivalry between the Latinos who were born here and the kids born (in Mexico and Central America). It's a stupid war. They need to put down the guns and pick up a book and a pencil."

Her flier called on parents to wear white shirts and gather for a peace rally at noon Sunday at 24th and Mission streets.

A few doors down from the shrine, in a darkened upstairs flat, Marta Espinoza sobbed at the death of her son. She was comforted by her sister and other relatives.

"All the family is coming to be together," Espinoza said. She said she couldn't say more. "It's too fresh, too new," she said.

Groups take to streets

Across the Mission, community organizations that work with teenagers - from Instituto Familiar de la Raza to Arriba Juntos - planned an intensive effort to try to interrupt the violence.

"The weekend's coming, and as we speak, outreach workers are out there trying to increase the peace," said Ana Pérez, executive director of the Central American Resource Center. "Community organizers will be walking the streets at night. We'll be taking kids to the movies, making sure they have something peaceful to do."

The slayings were the 70th and 71st in the city this year and the fifth and sixth in the Mission since Aug. 22. No arrests have been made in any of the killings.

In all of 2007 there were 98 homicides, the highest total in San Francisco since 1995.

Alvarez-Rodriguez said Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties has been hit particularly hard by the violence. In the past two years, she said, 10 of its employees and counseling clients have been killed in shootings.

"This is a huge blow," she said. "So many of these young men and women live in neighborhoods where violence is happening. I wish to God it wasn't happening, but this is their home."

Recent Mission District killings

Six people have been shot to death in the Mission District since Aug. 22. No arrests have been made in the killings.

-- Samuel Mitchell, 47, killed Aug. 22 at 26th and Folsom streets.

-- Jorge Hurtado, 18, shot and killed Aug. 24 at Treat Avenue and 23rd Street.

-- Marcelino Canul-Castro, 24, fatally shot Monday at San Carlos and 18th streets.

-- Mark Guardado, 45, president of the San Francisco chapter of the Hells Angels, killed Tuesday near 24th Street and Treat Avenue. Police speculate that a member of a rival motorcycle gang may have been responsible.

-- Noel Espinoza, 19, and Matthew Solomon, 23, killed Thursday night near Espinoza's home on 24th Street at Utah Street.

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Two Killed, Three Injured In Mission District Shootings

SF Mission District Erupts In Deadly Violence

UPDATED: 6:29 am PDT September 5, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco police faced another busy evening in the Mission District after two separate shootings left at least two people dead, according to police.

In the first incident, two people were shot while sitting in a vehicle parked in San Francisco with a 4-month-old child that was uninjured, a police spokesman said.

According to Sgt. Wilfred Williams, the man and woman were in the area of 18th and Bryant streets around 6:30 p.m. when they were both shot.

The two were driven to San Francisco General Hospital by friends and were being treated for injuries considered life-threatening. The 4-month-old, who police believe was the child of the two victims, was not injured during the shooting.

Williams said a man was witnessed fleeing the scene in a compact silver vehicle.

"If anybody witnessed, heard or saw anything, they can call our anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444," he said.

Several hours later, a second shooting took place only a few blocks away. this time at the intersection of 24th Street and Utah Street one block from San Francisco General Hospital.

Eyewitness reports indicate that at around 9:45 p.m., three people were shot. Police later confirmed that one person killed at the scene while two other victims sustained injuries and were transported to the nearby hospital. One of the victims then died at the hospital.

Police remained on the scene well into the night questioning witnesses. So far, there is no word from police as to whether these two incidents are related to each other or to the fatal shooting of SF Hells Angel leader Mark "Papa" Guardado that took place Tuesday night only a few blocks from the second shooting Thursday evening.

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Robberies Up 10 Percent Over 2007

SFPD Launches Effort To Curb Spike In Robberies

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ― The head of the San Francisco Police Department's robbery detail said Wednesday police are conducting a multi-pronged effort to head off a spike this year in robberies throughout the city.

Police Lt. William Canning told members of the San Francisco Police Commission Wednesday evening that since February, police have conducted 25 robbery abatement team decoy operations, or RAT ops, in the city's Bayview, Ingleside, Mission, Southern and Tenderloin police districts, resulting in the arrests of 109 robbery suspects.

The actions come as police have seen robberies in San Francisco increase 10 percent through August over the same period last year, including 659 armed robberies with guns, a 35-percent increase, according to police statistics.

The number of robberies in San Francisco in 2008, not including pickpockets, has totaled 3,094 through Aug. 28.

Canning said the rise might be attributed to increased pressure San Francisco police have been putting on gangs in the city, whose members may be turning to robberies as an simpler way to get money, including by nabbing easily visible laptops and iPods.

He said many of the robbery suspect descriptions are of younger males in their late teens and early 20s, whose activity has not been confined to any particular areas of the city.

"They're basically occurring all over," he said.

"The guys who are robbing want money, so they'll basically go where the money is," said Canning.

"They're riding in cars, and, as we call it, going shopping," searching the streets for people to rob, he said.

Canning said robbers have not been targeting San Francisco restaurants and other businesses as in Oakland and other parts of the East Bay, though suspects arrested for a recent series of robberies in San Francisco were from Oakland, he said.

Police are also planning discussions to set up enforcement operations to counter a marked rise in robberies on San Francisco Municipal Railway buses this year, according to Canning.

Other police operations have included increased foot patrols in the downtown Market Street area, and public education programs offering safety tips to residents and businesses, Canning said.

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Also, here's a Chronicle article detailing the rise in robberies in SF as well as in the Bay Area as a whole (Throughout the Bay Area, robberies have risen 40% between 2004 and 2007). It includes some interesting stuff, such as robbery maps for both San Francisco and Oakland, as well as the top 15 hotspots for robberies in each city.

SF Hells Angels Leader Shot Dead In The Mission

Head of Hells Angels in S.F. is shot to death

Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
(09-03) 18:03 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The president of the San Francisco chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was shot and killed Tuesday night after he lost a fight for his life with a rival on a Mission District street, police said Wednesday.

Mark "Papa" Guardado, 45, was shot at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday near 24th Street and Treat Avenue, about a mile from the group's clubhouse where he lived. He died at San Francisco General Hospital.

Witnesses told investigators that Guardado and the gunman struggled before the shooting.

"They had a wrestling match first," said Lt. Mike Stasko of the San Francisco police homicide detail. Then "the guy shot him, and he got on his motorcycle and left."

Police have made no arrests, but said one avenue they are exploring was that Guardado was fighting with a rival in another motorcycle group. "We're looking at all the options," Stasko said.

An attorney who was defending Guardado in a battery case in Sonoma County said he was "absolutely devastated" by the killing, and that "Mark was a wonderful human being."

"His friends loved him," said the attorney, Patrick Ciocca. "He really was an all-around good guy. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people who are going to miss him dearly."

Members of the Hells Angels at the group's clubhouse on Tennessee Street in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco declined to talk about the killing.

At the street corner where Guardado was shot, across from a bar and a nail salon, there was a makeshift memorial where someone had written in large, black letters, "R.I.P. Papa Frisco."

Nearby, others wrote "never forget" and "we will always love you." Five burned-out candles lay nearby.

Ciocca was unable to say how long Guardado had headed the local chapter. But he stressed that the Hells Angels had been unfairly harassed over the years by authorities who have raided the clubhouse in search of evidence that the group is a criminal enterprise.

"It's outlandish," Ciocca said.

The group's San Francisco chapter - or "Frisco," as its members call it - is the second-oldest Hells Angels club in the country, after Fontana in San Bernardino County. In 2004, it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party that attracted about a thousand bikers from around the world...

read the entire article here.

Former Firefighter Suspected In Sexual Assaults - Reward In Puppy Killing Increased

- A $500,000 warrant has been issued for Horacio Candia Jr., a former San Francisco firefighter who is suspected of using his badge to commit various violent sexual assaults on women. The latest assault was on August 22nd at 16th and Carolina Streets on the border of Potrero Hill. The victim was able to escape and call police.

- The reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for the kidnapping and stabbing death of a 7 month old Pit Bull named Pogo was increased to $15,000 today. Pogo was being walked at Ocean Beach on July 22nd when he went over a sand dune and disappeared. He was found stabbed to death in a dumpster in the Bayview a week later.

Man Killed In Mission District Shooting

SF: MAN FATALLY SHOT TUESDAY NIGHT IN MISSION DISTRICT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

San Francisco police today are investigating the fatal shooting of a man Tuesday night in the Mission District.

Police received a report of a shooting at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of 24th Street and Treat Avenue.

When officers arrived, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police.

Police did not release any information on a suspect in the shooting.

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Man Shot Dead In The Mission

SF: MAN FATALLY SHOT IN MISSION DISTRICT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A man was shot and killed in San Francisco's Mission District this morning, police said.

At about 5:15 a.m., officers responded to a report of gunshots in the unit block of San Carlos Street, according to police.

Arriving officers found the victim lying on the ground and suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

No arrests have been made and no suspect information was immediately available.

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Glen Park Store Robbed; Owner Beaten And Stabbed, Employee Kidnapped

Grocer beaten, robbed in Glen Park

Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, August 31, 2008
(08-30) 19:06 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Armed robbers beat and stabbed the owner of a corner grocery store in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood late Friday night, and another store employee was kidnapped and later released, police reported.

Paul Park, who owns Buddies Market at the corner of Chenery and Diamond streets, was getting ready to go home around 11 p.m. when he was confronted by three or four suspects who reportedly broke in through the rear door.

"The suspects beat and stabbed the store's owner, robbed the store of cash, and kidnapped an employee. The suspects escaped by stealing the store's van. The employee was released in Daly City," San Francisco police Capt. Denis O'Leary wrote in a crime alert he e-mailed to neighborhood residents and merchants.

He described the suspects as black males wearing dark clothing.

Park, who had been bound and gagged and was suffering from multiple stab wounds, managed to cross the street and seek help at Le P'tit Laurent, a French bistro.

"It was really scary, really terrible," said owner Laurent Legendre, who summoned police.

Park was in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital today. The name and condition of the employee who was kidnapped was not immediately available.

Park is known by neighbors as a hard-working businessman who puts in long hours at his mom-and-pop store.

The store's van, which was used in the getaway, is still missing. It is a tan-colored 2002 Toyota Siena, with California license plate No. 4VHN307. Police ask anyone who spots the van to call 911.

Anyone with additional information about the crime is asked to call the SFPD robbery unit at 415-553-1201 during normal business hours or the operations center after hours at 415-553-1071.

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Police Warn Residents About Multiple Cases Of Arson

SF: POLICE WARN CITY OF MULTIPLE CASES OF ARSON

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

The San Francisco Police Department today is warning city residents of a number of arson fires over the last two months.

In more than 10 incidents, police say a suspect places newspaper against a building and lights it on fire. The first such fire occurred on June 23 and the most recent fire was started Tuesday, with the fires also set between 11:30 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Police said the fires have been started in Chinatown, the Financial District, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights neighborhoods.

Anyone witnessing similar suspicious activity should immediately call police.

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Obama Supporter Stabbed In The Face - Man Gets Two Years For Attack On Muni Driver

- A man was stabbed around 6 p.m. this evening, after getting into a confrontation with another man at 5th and Market Streets. The victim, who was working at a stand supporting Barack Obama, was approached by another man who started arguing with him. The man then left, only to return with a knife which he used to stab the victim in the face. Two cops witnessed the altercation, and arrested the assailant. The victim was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

- Another man was sentenced to two years in jail for a November 2007 attack on a Muni driver. The suspect, Hakeem Perry, attacked bus driver Ely Advincula on the 29-Sunset Bus in the Presidio, pulling the driver out of the bus where he proceeded to "beat him and slam him against a wall." Advicula suffered broken facial bones, cuts and bruises. Perry claims that he suffers from schizophrenia, and has a prior conviction in Washington State for felony assault, as well as a misdemeanor in Alameda County related to a fight.

Three Stores Robbed Thursday Morning

Clerks Robbed At Gunpoint At 3 SF Stores

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ― Store clerks in three San Francisco neighborhoods were robbed at gunpoint over a four-hour period early Thursday morning, San Francisco police said.

Police do not yet know whether the robberies are connected.

The first happened in the city's Mission District at about 1:20 a.m. when two men robbed a store clerk in the 3100 block of 24th Street before fleeing on foot, police said.

At 4:56 a.m., a second store clerk was robbed at gunpoint by two men in the 3000 block of San Jose Avenue in the city's Mission Terrace neighborhood.

About 10 minutes later, a third clerk was robbed at gunpoint by three men in the 2000 block of Ocean Avenue, in the city's Ingleside Terrace neighborhood.

None of the clerks was injured and no arrests have been made, police said.

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Two Injured In Tenderloin Shootings

SF: TWO SHOOTINGS INJURE TWO PEOPLE

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Two people were injured in separate shootings in the Tenderloin neighborhood this evening, San Francisco police said.

The first incident took place in the 200 block of McAllister Street at about 5:40 p.m., according to police

The next shooting occurred near the intersection of Hyde Street and Golden Gate Avenue around 8 p.m., police said.

No arrests were made in connection with either shooting, but police said there are possible suspects being considered in at least one of the incidents.

Both victims were transported to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.

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Two Stabbed In the Excelsior

SF: TWO VICTIMS STABBED IN CITY'S EXCELSIOR DISTRICT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Two victims were stabbed tonight in San Francisco's Excelsior District, according to San Francisco fire Lt. Carl Drake.

The stabbing was reported around 9 p.m. in the 400 block of Paris Street, according to Drake.

The victims were transported to San Francisco General Hospital in one ambulance and were expected to survive their injuries, Drake said.

Suspect information was not immediately available.

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Mission District Shooting Kills Man

Man shot dead in SF's Mission District

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, August 24, 2008
(08-24) 10:40 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- An 18-year-old San Francisco man was shot and killed early today in the city's Mission District.

Jorge Hurtado was shot around 1 a.m. at 23rd and Treat streets. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the medical examiner. Police have made no arrests in the killing.

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Man In Critical Condition After Visitacion Valley Shooting

Man shot in Vis Valley

Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, August 23, 2008
(08-23) 19:46 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A 20-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition on Saturday in San Francisco after being shot six times, police said.

The shooting was reported at 5:30 p.m. at Brookdale Avenue and Santos Street in Visitacion Valley.

The unidentified victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital.

No suspects have been arrested, police said.

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Man Shot To Death In The Mission

S.F. man, 47, shot to death on Mission District street

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, August 22, 2008
(08-22) 11:55 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A 47-year-old man was shot and killed early today in San Francisco's Mission District, police said.

Samuel Mitchell of San Francisco was found shot numerous times about 12:05 a.m. near 26th and Folsom streets. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

There were no reports of arrests.

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Person Stabbed In the Tenderloin

SF: PERSON WITH STAB WOUNDS WALKS INTO FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR HELP

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A person was stabbed in San Francisco on Sunday night and walked into the Fire Department for help, a police officer said.

The person had apparently been stabbed in the upper abdomen and left wrist but police were unsure of the victim's condition.

The victim, who reportedly knew the suspect, walked into the Fire Department at 934 Larkin St. around 10:30 p.m., police said.

Police did not have a report of any subsequent arrests.

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Man Shot In the Mission

Man shot in Mission district, expected to survive

Bay City News 8/17/08
SAN FRANCISCO – A man was shot in the Mission district on Saturday night and he is expected to survive, a police officer said.

The shooting was reported around 10:40 p.m. at Valencia and 18th streets, police said.

The streets were reportedly closed for at least a couple hours in the area while police investigated the scene.

No suspects were arrested.

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Man Stabbed To Death On Market Street - Man Critically Injured In Mission District Shooting

San Francisco police are investigating a Thursday night shooting in the Mission District that has left a man in critical condition.

Police received a call at about 10:50 p.m. of a shooting in the 2200 block of Mission Street. Officers arrived to find an adult male suffering from a single gunshot wound, police said.

The victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he is in critical condition, police said. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.

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Man fatally stabbed in S.F.

Steve Rubenstein

Friday, August 15, 2008
(08-15) 07:53 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A man was stabbed to death on Market Street in San Francisco on Friday following an early-morning fight, police said.
More Bay Area News

Officers summoned to the scene of a reported "fight in progress" in the 1200 block of Market Street arrived at 1:55 a.m. to find the unidentified victim dead from multiple stab wounds.

There have been no arrests, police said.

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