A robbery on the 3400 block of Geary Boulevard turned exceptionally grim this morning after a man was brutally beaten with a hammer during the home invasion. "Two suspects broke down the front door of the home and began to take items. One of the suspects encountered the 45-year-old victim and demanded money from him," reports KTVU. "The victim began to struggle with the intruders and was hit in the head and knees several times with a hammer." The victim, now in stable condition, was treated at SF General. more ›

(Via Lindsay William-Ross / LAist) Following Sunday morning's arrest of Giovanni Ramirez, the prime suspect in the Bryan Stow Dodger Stadium beating investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department have provided details about the attack and at least one suspect who remains at large. more ›

After last night's opening game in Los Angeles, LAPD are looking for two men who beat and seriously injured a Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. "Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg said Friday that two men in Dodgers clothing followed three men in Giants gear as they walked to their car after Thursday night's 2-1 Dodger victory," Associated Press reports. "Rosenberg says the attackers yelled slurs against the Giants and began kicking and punching the men. One victim suffered a head injury and was hospitalized in critical but stable condition." more ›

The Examiner reports that there was an apparent skateboard bashing that happened last month, which the victim died from a few days later. The attack occurred early Christmas morning at 12:45 a.m. at Haight and Masonic Avenue, in which Dustin Tolboe, 28, allegedly bashed Donald Tanksley, 60, on the head with a skateboard, causing a severe skull-fracture. more ›

After slipping and falling while walking her dog, an Alameda woman was attacked by a gaze of raccoons on Sunday along Central Avenue toward Eighth Street. more ›

Alas, there's been yet another attack on the T Line. ABC 7 reports that on between the ages of 14 and 16 inside the Muni light rail on Third Street and Williams Avenue." more ›

Be careful as you walk the streets of San Francisco's Historic Mission District tonight, folks. On Wednesday night, a series of muggings occurred. In once instance, a woman was reportedly slashed with a razor during a robbery. Ugh. more ›

After being beaten and allegedly raped by several men on the Richmond High School grounds after a homecoming dance, a 15-year-old girl remains hospitalized this morning. The incident happened on Saturday night. According to reports: more ›

While j-schoolers at Cal are busy bemoaning the state of the Journalism and perfecting that well-worn journalist look (hint: spiral notepad, unkempt hair, elbow patches, lots of chin scratching), a hacker breached UC Berkeley's School of Journalism server in July. According to the Daily Cal, "500 applicants to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism were notified [Tuesday] that their Social Security numbers and other private data may have been compromised in a recent campus security breach." This most recent hacking affects "people who applied to the school between September 2007 and May 2009." While, most likely, no one is at real risk of any serious identity damage -- real journalism students have neither a hefty bank nor decent credit -- students were notified weeks after the actual attack. According to Shelton Waggener, the school's "associate vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer," a delay in notification is typical in these situations. "It just takes time to do the investigation," he said. "Once we were certain of as much info as we could be, we began the notification process and developing the notification strategy." more ›

A San Mateo man is currently on trial for allegedly putting a beatdown on another homeless man. Why? Well, according to SFGate, Jason Everett Keller, 40, reportedly attacked fellow happy-wanderer Stephan Fava in South San Francisco this past March. It seems that Fava "was chatting with an acquaintance, who is also homeless, about 'quantum physics and the splitting of atoms' [when] Keller joined in the conversation and, for reasons unknown, got upset." The report goes on to say that Keller, presumably demonstrating how atomic and subatomic systems can be created or whatever, "picked up his skateboard and hit Fava in the face with it, splitting his lip." Keller is expected to take the stand soon, testimony that we very much look forward to hearing. more ›

Swoops caught on tape! more ›

Have you had your head pecked while lunching or lollygagging downtown? This might be the reason: A tiny, adorable, rapscallion of a blackbird has been tormenting pedestrians in San Francisco's financial district as of late. The little bird, christened Swoops, has been "guarding his nest in a behavior experts call 'mobbing.'" more ›

And now, for a dramatic morning dose of the macabre, we present too you a story about a man accused of attacking a colleague with a meat cleaver in Palo Alto. Happening at "fine Shanghai cuisine" restaurant Jade Palace on California Avenue a little after 7 p.m. last night, the fuzz "found an Asian man in his late 40s or early 50s in the kitchen area with three to four stab wounds to the face and torso from a cleaver," after reporting to the scene. According to Mercury News, the victim was simply drenched in blood. "It was all over the place. It was all over his back," said Richard Reyes, owners of nearby business. "You could see some of his muscles hanging out." more ›

Described as a "generous woman who often gave money to the homeless," Helen Canafax, 63, was on the 600 block of Folsom Street on April 10 when an unidentified man swiped her purse and hit her to the ground. Canafax, according to reports "sustained serious injuries in the fall and died on April 26." The suspect at-large is reportedly "a black man between 35 and 40," weighing in somewhere around 180 pounds The suspect was wearing "a gray beanie-style cap, a red or black sweatshirt and dark-colored pants" on the day of the attack. If you know of any leads in this case, you are urged to call SFPD homicide inspectors Richard Martin or John Cleary at 415-553-1145, or the tip line at 415-575-4444. more ›

This just in. Carlos Sousa, Jr.'s family, who sued SF Zoo over their son's 2007 Christmas Day tiger mauling death, has agreed to a settlement. According to today's release: more ›

An unidentified male USF student was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of rape and aggravated assault of four female students, in separate incidents. Each attack allegedly occurred on USF campus residence halls. more ›

A little over a week ago, Jan. 24, seven male suspects beat a UPS employee (who is black) in a park in the 3500 block of Morningside Drive in the city of Richmond. And it looks like the victim might have been baited. According to reports, the UPS driver walked to a nearby gas station after leaving work, wherein he met a group of men who offered him a ride home. After drinking a few round, they stopped at a park and the UPS worker used a restroom, "where he was struck in the back of the head by one of the suspects." The other men joined in the attack, yelling "racial epithets and fracturing the victim's face bones." Vile. All seven unidentified suspects are in custody. This comes on the heels of a Richmond lesbian who was brutally gang raped and beaten after a few Richmond pigs noticed the rainbow flag sticker on her car bumper. more ›

Yesterday, as Carlos Sousa Jr.'s family mourned the one-year anniversary of their son's death, a sculpture of Tatiana the tiger was unveiled. Halfway up Telegraph Hill, a pleasant yet odd location to place it, the big-cat monument is built to scale as how Tatiana might have looked when she first arrived at the SF Zoo in 2005. Created by 48-year-old Jon Engdahl, who felt sympathy toward to the tiger, he views her as the victim, not the aggressor, in last year's awful Christmas time incident. "This was a labor of love," Engdahl tells the Chronicle, "I identified with this beautiful animal. I felt sorry for the sordid and needless way she died." If you recall, Engdahl had also organized a vigil for Tatiana early last year that attracted a handful feline lovers on New Year's Day 2008. more ›

With the one-year anniversary of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr.'s death by tiger approaching -- if you recall, it happened in Christmas day of 2007 -- the two brothers who survived the big-cat attack have filed a federal lawsuit against the city and county of San Francisco, the SFPD, the zoo, and a public relations firm hired by the SF Zoo just after the attack. The Dhaliwals claim that the "tiger enclosure was lower than recommended national standards" and that "the zoo started a smear campaign against the Dhaliwal brothers following the attacks." (KCBS) more ›

According to local (LiveJournal) blogger Shatter707, he and his dog were attacked this weekend on Treasure Island. Check it: more ›

Since San Diego is SF's sister down south, and seeing as how our coastline has seen its fair share of large fish attacks, we thought we should mention what happened today. Dave Martin, 66, a retired veterinarian (ironically) and a member of a triathlon club was killed by a great white shark in Solana Beach, 150 yards offshore. more ›

Paul Dhaliwal--Christmastime tiger attack victim, and currently in the process of trying to sue the city of San Francisco over said attack--might be looking at some time in the clink. After Dhaliwal went on a shoplifting spree last month, which included the brazen act of stuffing of two Wii controllers down his pants, San Leandro cops are recommend seven felony charges be handed down to him. According to the San Leandro police spokesman Lt. Tom Overton (via the San Jose Mercury News): more ›

Glorious, isn't it? more ›

Wow. This is a bit depressing. Scratch that, a lot. more ›

Due to the "unusual and extraordinary" Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo -- which resulted in the mauling death of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and wounding of Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal -- a three-member tiger team formed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has been called in to examine the zoo's big cat grotto. While the investigation and renovations are underway, the tigers and lions are currently kicking it indoors. What's more, according to zoo director Manuel Mollinedo, the cats have been subjected to the wonderful world of Disney: more ›

SFist Jim reports that he went to the reopening of the San Francisco Zoo today, where he snapped the picture, above, of the tributes being placed at the zoo's tiger statue, and which he described as "a big bust." When we first read SFist Jim's email, we thought he was talking about the tiger statue (we were like, "they made a bust of Tatiana? So fast!"), but no, he meant the crowds, which were sparse to the point where there was more media there than zoo visitors. more ›

Damn. Ing. more ›

The morbidly curious, a smattering of animal enthusiasts, and, of course, the media will line up to get into the SF Zoo when it reopens to the public at 10 a.m. tomorrow. In addition to a Tatiana-free environment, zoo visitors will also notice a few other changes. For instances, new signs reminding visitors that they are "guests in the [animals]" and not to "tap on glass, throw anything into the exhibit, make excessive noise, tease or call out to them." (We can't imagine to whom they're referring.) Also, reinforced-glass will make its debut in the tiger grotto, as well as loudspeakers telling visitors to scram come closing time. more ›

As seen in the graphic above (pulled from the LA Times), and because of last week's fatal attacks, tiger security improvement is needed. Soon. In 30 days, according to the Gate, SF Zoo will have a brand spanking new tiger-grotto security system. The architect who created the zoo's Grizzly Gulch exhibit, Sam Singer, will also now design the safer new tiger grotto. Although no details of the new tiger grotto designed have been released, we're sure "more safe" will be a bullet point or four. more ›

Another mauling, y'all. This time in San Jose. more ›