The notorious skateboard hill-bomb event that used to happen on Dolores Street next to Dolores Park, and which last year became a smaller, city-sanctioned event on Twin Peaks, inspired a new version at another location this past weekend.

In case you missed it, and you likely did if you don't live near Telegraph Hill, a number of skateboarders hill-bombed Montgomery Street on Sunday afternoon. It's not clear why it was randomly scheduled in mid-April, when a reimagined version of the Dolores Hill Bomb just happened in October on Twin Peaks.

The only online evidence we see in the way of an event announcement is this flyer, which says that On Everything I Love was presenting the Frisco Hill Bomb on Sunday, April 12, at 2 pm. Participants were told to gather at Montgomery and Vallejo streets. "Bring boards, and your people," the flyer says. "Respect the ride. Respect the city."

As ABC 7 reports, unlike the unsanctioned hill-bomb events of yesteryear, which usually happened in early July — and which led to some nasty interactions with police in recent years — this year's event "drew more police officers than participants." And the organizers said they "hope for better cooperation with city officials in the future."

Unlike the October event, which was ostensibly permitted, this Frisco Hill Bomb was not sanctioned by the city.

One of the organizers, Deonta Harper, told ABC 7, "Want everybody to come out and enjoy themselves. Whether you fall, slide out, or ride down the hill and make it, you're gonna have the thrill of being together as a community."

The Dolores Hill Bomb used to just happen, in the chaotic way of some grassroots events, without any public announcement, but a police crackdown began in 2017, which was marked by tense confrontations. And further efforts by police came after a well known skater was seriously injured in 2019, and a fixed-gear cyclist died while bombing down the hill in 2020, which led to the city installing those plastic dots on the roadway.

The SFPD put on riot gear and got very aggressive at the 2023 Hill Bomb, arresting 81 minors and angering many of their parents.

The event still tried to stay underground, and following a police presence thwarting the use of Dolores Street, an unsanctioned hill bomb went ahead in 2024 one block over, on Church Street.

It's unclear whether the organizers of last fall's sanctioned version on Twin Peaks intend to repeat that effort.

Photo by Shawn Henry

• Local filmmaker Mario Riveira released a short, investigative documentary on ongoing ICE operations taking place in San Francisco, utilizing raw footage, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with immigrants, their families, and local officials. [YouTube]

• An investigation into former high school principal Jonathan M. Fey, 54, at Pleasanton Unified School District in Alameda County found evidence that he attempted to solicit sex from a current and former student using an online app, which resulted in his resignation. [EdSource]
• Halloween Reel Round-Up: Revelers filled the Castro Night Market early Friday evening then later paraded up and down Valencia Street in the Mission; both were preceded by a “Gay Halloween Ice Protest” in front of the immigration court on Montgomery Street Friday afternoon.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

• Suzie Smith, the nurse who was aboard the medical helicopter that crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento Monday has died. Smith helped people around the world as a long-time traveling nurse before settling down in Sacramento for two decades. [CBS Sacramento]

• Six people were killed and at least 10 others were injured in a shooting in Leland, Mississippi Friday night at a gathering that followed a high school homecoming game. Additionally, two others were killed in a separate Friday night shooting on the grounds of a high school in Heidelberg, Mississippi. [ABC News]
• Perla Rosario Henriquez Ulloa, 21, of San Francisco was arrested and booked on multiple charges Thursday relating to the hit-and-run crash in Bernal Heights that killed Binod Budhathoki, a 30-year-old Nepalese immigrant, last weekend. [Chronicle]
• About 100 people on skateboards, bikes, and roller skates took part in Saturday’s city-approved hill bomb in Twin Peaks, a big contrast to the unsanctioned 2023 hill bomb that resulted in 100 arrests. [Chronicle]

• The Bay Area is expected to see rain with possible thunderstorms and lightning Monday morning, which could potentially cause minor urban overflow and small stream flooding. [KPIX]
• Oakland’s 17th Street serves as an example of how creating a walkable city without addressing the inevitable increase in cost of living leads to widespread vacancies and fractured communities. [Cities by Diana]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

After years of general chaos and injuries, and now being "forced into cooperating with police," SF's skaters are going to be having a fully permitted and organized "hill bomb" event this weekend on Twin Peaks.

You may have noticed, especially if you live near Dolores Park, that there was no skateboarding hootenanny in July known as the Dolores Hill Bomb.

This comes after last year's Hill Bomb was met with a police blockade on Dolores Street, to which the assembled skaters just responded by moving one block over and bombing the Church Street hill instead. And that followed the disastrous 2023 event, when SFPD officers showed up in riot gear and arrested 81 minors and 32 adults — with parents later railing at police for how the teenagers were treated while in custody.

All that police activity came as a result of the rogue event resulting in multiple injuries — including a death in 2020 — and occasional skirmishes with police as the crowd became increasingly hostile to the crackdowns.

Now, as the Chronicle reports, organizer Ciaran Trevino has sold out and caved to authority, under duress. And this year's event, dubbed the Twin Peaks Peaceful Hill-Bomb for Palestine, comes complete with a permit, a "safety briefing," and 25 safety "spotters" who'll be stationed along the route.

It all starts at 2 pm Saturday, October 11, at the Christmas Tree Point parking lot on Twin Peaks. Participants will then make their way down onto Upper Market via "bicycles, skateboards, skates, and other wheeled devices, with a "final run" at Market and Noe streets. There will then be a rally at Noe and Beaver streets, with speakers and "solidarity messages.

More than 40 Bay Area organizations are reportedly attached to the event, including CODEPINK, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Haiti Action Committee.

As Trevino tells the Chronicle, "I was sort of forced into cooperating with police... So I decided I’m going to co-opt the police — all these state resources — to facilitate our inherently anti-capitalist anarchist-tilt event."

And, as Ryen Motzek, a partner at the Mission's DLX Skateshop, tells the paper, the event should be inherently less chaotic because the route is "not straight downhill or super crazy." And, he adds, "It doesn’t run right through a residential area with a lot of houses. People won’t be just back-and-forth bombing with lots of beer spilling on the ground."

We shall see!

In this week’s Field Notes: A tween skate star, a giant whale sculpture, floating saunas, a community hub in the making, indie legends at the Greek, and kitsch in San Luis Obispo. Plus, opossum rescues, Fringe Fest weirdness, easy hikes, and Jane at SFMOMA.

One to watch on the ramp

At 11 years old, Oakland’s Anna Shea Reynolds-Madsen is making an impact on the skate world. She first picked up a board by borrowing her sister’s in secret. Within a year, she was skating vert ramps and learning to drop without any lessons or coaches — just trial, error, and a lot of determination.

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Vert skating is rare and demanding, especially for kids. But Anna loves the height, the speed, and the pure physics of it. She’s now competing in national events like Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert, catching air in massive arenas one week and skating DIY parks in the East Bay the next.

She’s got style, and she’s not afraid to be herself. According to a 2023 interview, off the ramp, she draws, plays piano, and crushes it in soccer. Her dream is to go pro, travel the world, and one day snowboard in Iceland. But for now, she’s just a Bay Area kid chasing the next drop-in, fearless and fully in her element. — S1 Helmet Co. / Old Bones Therapy

Golden hour sounds at the Greek

The Greek Theatre’s hillside setting and breezy eucalyptus canopy make it one of the Bay Area’s most atmospheric venues, especially on late-summer nights. This season’s lineup feels tailor-made for the grown-up indie crowd.

Father John Misty headlines there tonight with Lucinda Williams and Hamilton Leithauser — a mellow, melancholic triple bill that suits the venue’s golden-hour glow. Still to come: My Morning Jacket returns August 22 with their signature blend of psychedelic rock and Southern soul, known for long builds and explosive crescendos. On August 28, the Pixies bring their raw, off-kilter alt-rock to the stage alongside Spoon’s sharp, clean hooks and Fazerdaze’s dreamy fuzz-pop.

September 7 promises maximalist spectacle as the Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse team up for a co-headlining show likely to include giant props, bubble machines, and cathartic singalongs. And October 16 brings a long-awaited reunion from Rilo Kiley, with Jenny Lewis leading the band’s bittersweet indie-pop back onto the big stage for the first time in over a decade. — Broke-Ass Stuart

A 24-foot whale and the power of tools

A 24-foot wooden whale just surfaced at Berkeley’s Adventure Playground, thanks to 85 youth builders from Girls Garage. The climbing sculpture — complete with baleen mouth and 3D-printed handholds — was the centerpiece of a month-long summer camp blending carpentry, design, and confidence-building.

First-timers learned to use jigsaws and drills; returning teens mentored and imagined. Instructors say it’s about more than construction—it’s about showing young people their strength. And the whale’s just the latest. Girls Garage also builds free installations like garden beds and tiny homes for community orgs across the Bay. — Berkeleyside

Weird on purpose: The Fringe lives on

Theater veteran Christina Augello has been keeping San Francisco weird since 1983 — and at 77, she’s not slowing down. As founder of The Exit, she’s produced thousands of experimental, often chaotic, and occasionally brilliant shows in the Tenderloin. These days she’s down to just one stage, but her annual San Francisco Fringe Festival marches on from August 8–25, showcasing 15 original productions drawn by lottery.

Expect clown shows, pole acrobatics, spoken word, and a few total flops — because that’s the point. For Augello, creating space for small, strange stories is an act of resistance, and The Exit is still a place where something unforgettable might happen… even if you walk in expecting nothing at all. — Mission Local

Low-effort, high-reward trails near you

No need to trek too far from home for a great hike. This roundup highlights ten top user-rated easy trails, from San Francisco’s coastal Lands End and Oakland’s redwood-filled Redwood Regional Park to Marin’s Dipsea Loop and the peaceful Purisima Creek near Half Moon Bay.

Each trail offers something unique — whether it’s ocean views, towering trees, or quiet forest paths. Best of all, they’re all accessible for a casual stroll with plenty of payoff. — Chronicle

Opossum season in full swing

At Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue, it’s peak opossum season. The all-volunteer nonprofit, based in Oakland, is putting out the call for fosters — especially for babies who need care before they can be released back into the wild.

Volunteers should have backyard space for an outdoor enclosure, plus a little open-mindedness when it comes to these misunderstood marsupials. “They eat rats. They’re gardeners’ friends,” says founder Lila Travis. Between wildfires, fireworks, and summer disruption, the rescue often sees up to 60 opossums at a time, alongside a rotating cast of raccoons, squirrels, and hummingbirds. — KGO

Nordic heat, bay views

A new retreat in Richardson Bay blends Nordic tradition with Bay Area flair — Fjord, a pair of hand-built floating saunas, opens next month along Sausalito’s waterfront. Designed by Marin locals Alex Yenni and Gabe Turner, the twin cedar structures feature 190-degree Finnish-style heat and icy plunge decks—all bobbing gently in the bay.

Each sauna fits six people, with pre-sales now open for the unique “sea-spa” experience. Come for the detox, stay for the view. — Mill Valley Patch

A new Jane in town

SFMOMA is teaming up with local favorite Jane the Bakery to open Jane on Third, a new ground-floor cafe and brunch spot debuting this August. The menu promises fresh salads, quiche, sandwiches, and French toast — with indoor and outdoor seating available and no museum ticket required.

A new mural by Chelsea Ryoko Wong, known for her vibrant scenes of everyday joy, will welcome diners and museum-goers alike. — Secret San Francisco

Coffee, zines, and conversation on College Avenue

Opening this fall in a former Rockridge storefront in Oakland, Local Economy is part coffee shop, part general store, part community clubhouse. The brainchild of couple Alexis Madrigal, of KQED, and writer and editor Sarah Rich, the space will feature a Painted Leopard coffee cart up front, shelves of handmade goods by local makers, and a pair of 8-foot communal tables anchoring the room.

Events like zine workshops, food pop-ups, and author talks will unfold just steps from East Bay Booksellers. Inspired by La Peña and Womb House Books, Local Economy invites neighbors to co-create a shared antidote to Bay Area isolation — one conversation and one cup of coffee at a time. — Chronicle

Kitsch, castles, and light in San Luis Obispo County

Tide pools and sea lions by day, glowing hillsides and speakeasies by night — San Luis Obispo County (aka SLO CAL) has all the ingredients for an extended weekend destination.

Venture from the bubblegum pink fantasyland of the Madonna Inn to Pismo’s ocean bluffs, sip Edna Valley wines (maybe by sidecar), and wander Hearst Castle’s gilded halls before heading north to Paso Robles. There, a tapas dinner sets the stage for Sensorio, a surreal, 15-acre wonderland of light and sound best explored under the stars. — 7x7

Top image: Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips perform in support of the band's "At  War with the Mystics" release at the Greek Theater on July 22, 2006 in  Berkeley, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Previously: Field Notes: 'Black Spaces' at OCMA, East Bay Skyline Trail Hike, and Tenderloin Museum Turns 10

This week’s mix of culture, nature, and flavor includes queer hikes, show-tune karaoke, booza ice cream, an Oakland-based wine company, Lake Temescal swims, Foster City Eichler homes, SF skate history, and bold films at BAMPFA.

Pride in nature

Several LGBTQ+ groups around the Bay Area are hosting outdoor events during Pride Month to create inclusive, welcoming spaces in nature. Activities include birdwatching with Queer Birders Bay Area and Queers of a Feather, which provide gear and beginner-friendly guidance. Queer Surf hosts beach events and lessons that celebrate gender diversity in surfing culture.

Branching Out Adventures and the Rainbow Sierrans lead hikes and camping trips with a focus on accessibility and community-building. The San Francisco Hiking Club, active since the 1980s, continues to connect queer people through weekly scenic treks.—KQED

Show tunes and karaoke

A Broadway-themed singalong bar is opening in SF’s Marina District on June 26, offering a full immersive musical theater experience, including show-tune karaoke, red carpet photo ops, and themed cocktails like the “Ozmopolitan.” From Hamilton to Phantom, it’s your chance to belt it out with fellow fans. Early reservations are now open via SFBucketList.—SFBucketList

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Summer swims and scenic trails at Lake Temescal

Lake Temescal, a serene reservoir in the Oakland Hills, is open daily for the 2025 summer swim season. Just under an hour from SF via BART and bus, it features a sandy beach with lifeguards, a peaceful trail, fishing, picnicking, and WPA-era architecture.

Temescal Creek was dammed in 1868 to provide drinking water to the East Bay, and the lake’s stone beach house dates to the 1930s. Two playgrounds and shady groves round out this East Bay gem.—Secret San Francisco

San Francisco’s skateboarding culture and legacy

SFGovTV’s new short documentary explores how San Francisco helped shape global skateboarding culture. More than just a pastime, skating is part of the city’s identity—etched into its hills, plazas, and neighborhoods. The film highlights its gritty history, iconic street spots, and influential skaters.—SFGovTV

Booza in the Bay

Booza, a stretchy traditional Arab ice cream, is making its mark on the Bay. The rare treat is available at Berkeley’s Roast & Toast, where Palestinian owner Fadi Alhour serves classic and cardamom-rose flavors topped with pistachio and crispy kataifi.

Booza is also sold at Levant Dessert in Menlo Park and SF’s Dalida, and a few local markets carry packaged versions made in Texas. Its elastic texture comes from orchid root and tree resin, making it dense and slow-melting—perfect for summer.—Chronicle

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Changing the face of wine—from Oakland

Jonathan Yang and Tiffani Patton are reimagining wine from their base in Oakland. As the duo behind Laughing Gems, they craft natural wines that reflect their Chinese American and Black and Korean American heritage—designed to pair with the bold flavors they grew up with.

Their fizzy Muscat Pet-Nat and orange Muscat “Florascent” cut through rich foods, and their labels feature playful designs by local artists. They got their start at Purity Wine in Richmond, and now they're building a culture that feels like home.—EaterSF

Eichlers, bayfront living, and fair housing

Foster City is home to 200 Mid-Century Modern Eichler homes built between 1964–1966 across three neighborhoods. Known for their open layouts, glass walls, and indoor-outdoor flow, the homes reflect a bold vision of equitable housing championed by developer Joseph Eichler, who sold to buyers of all races when discrimination was still legal.

While some have been remodeled, others are being lovingly restored. Their legacy is matched by Foster City's original vision of blending modern living with open space and nature.—The Eichler Network

Global stories and bold directors at BAMPFA

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s Summer and Fall 2025 film lineup explores memory, identity, and endurance across international cinema. Programs include Robert Altman at 100 and In Lonely Places, expanding noir into uncanny suburbs and isolation.

Retrospectives of Tsai Ming-liang, Mikio Naruse, and Tarkovsky highlight solitude and human connection, while works by Vivien Hillgrove and Bruce Conner showcase transformation through editing. From The 400 Blows to A Photographic Memory, it’s a season of storytelling that spans continents and generations.—Broke-Ass Stuart

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Top image: Still from 'A Photographic Memory,' screening at BAMPFA on June 28 and July 20

Previously: Field Notes: New Peninsula Trail Network, Nesting Falcons, and Black History in California

Monday: New Age legend, ambient pioneer, and zither-player extraordinaire LARAAJI is pairing up with The Sea & Cake’s Sam Prekop on live analog electronics for an unforgettable night at the captivating Grace Cathedral.  

Thursday: Bob the Drag Queen of RuPaul’s Drag Race will be performing a set presented by Noise Pop at downtown’s huge First Thursday art event, featuring outdoor bars, disco in the streets, plus lots of food and art.

Friday: Oakland’s First Fridays art event is celebrating everything spring with a focus on creativity and renewal, featuring live performances, interactive art installations, lots of food and beverage, and much more.

Saturday: The Tenderloin celebrates Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, with headliner Palestinian rapper MC Abdul and featuring pony rides, bounce houses, a henna booth, and a multicultural bazaar.

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Every Day: The Skateboarding San Francisco exhibit at the main library explores how San Francisco's skate culture made an impact on the rest of the world, curated by skater and historian Ted Barrow, who will be giving "Ted Talks" on April 12 and "Ted Tours" on June 14.

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Image: MC Abdul's Instagram page

The annual, unsanctioned skate punk joyride known as the Dolores Hill Bomb might be happening this Saturday, and at a community meeting to discuss police plans, neighbors were split on whether the event should be welcomed, or cracked down upon even harder.

The highly unsanctioned annual celebration of hooliganism known as the Dolores Hill Bomb has brought out skater kids and various fun-seekers to ride skateboards or other wheeled devices down then very steep Dolores Hill on some given Saturday every year since 2016. It is a completely unorganized, rogue event, and yes, there are a few misdemeanors committed here and there.  

But the 2023 event got ugly after SFPD put on the riot gear and arrested 81 minors and 31 adults, handcuffing dozens of kids, and detaining them until as late as 4 am. According to a Mission Local report, several of the detained teens “peed their pants while being kept zip-tied on the bus, awaiting transfer to Mission Station.” After extensive media uproar, DA Brooke Jenkins dropped the charges against all of the minors. But angry parents still brought a civil lawsuit against the city, which is still in the courts.

Fast forward to last week, when we learned that some social media posts were promoting that the 2024 Dolores Hill Bomb would be happening this Saturday, July 6. SFPD insisted they would be there and making arrests as they saw fit, while some in the community wondered why the city couldn’t get ahead of this thing and make it more sanctioned and safe.

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Well, someone who’d promoted the event as happening on July 6 seems to have had a change of heart. “Event CANCELED!!! Police will be waiting at Dolores!!! Keep my name out of it!!! Stay away!!!” that poster said. But there is an obvious likelihood that some teens and adult thrillseekers will show up anyway, or that like in 2020, there ends up being more than one Saturday where the skaters congregate at Dolores Park and try to make this happen.

Mission Local reports there was a Monday community meeting for concerned Dolores Park-area residents, with a panel of SFPD Chief Bill Scott, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and various other SFPD brass. And Chief Scott reiterated there would be a strong police presence, with no tolerance for foolishness.

“It is our intention, from the police department perspective, to not allow illegal activity to occur,” Scott said, per Mission Local. “I would highly encourage whoever can be a liaison to people that plan to show up … to encourage them not to do that.”

But some adults in the skater community were baffled that the city can’t come up with a more productive response after eight years of the exact same thing happening. “It occurs like a butterfly migration — so consistent, you could almost prepare for it,” skateboard instructor and Comet Skateboards brand manager Aaron Breetwor said at the meeting. “You could go outside and watch it like the sun goes up and sun goes down.”

Yet some neighbors were exasperated by the disorderly element this event attracts.

“We ask the city right now to please help us stop the violent acts: No more assaults or projectiles, broken bottles or fireworks,” Dolores Heights Improvement Club chair Carolyn Kenady told the panel. “Prevent arrests, especially of bystanders and minors, and prevent this illegal event.”

There was talk of sanctioning the event, though it clearly seems too late to do so now. One of the ideas mentioned was providing $3,000 for 100 helmets for the skaters, as there have been several gruesome injuries over the years, and even a fatality in 2020.

When the $3,000, 100 helmet proposal was discussed, some sympathetic skater in the audience shouted “If you need $3,000, I can donate to make that happen,” according to Mission Local.

Related: Just 10 Days Out From the Annual Dolores Hill Bomb, SFPD Gearing Up For More Skateboard Mayhem [SFist]

Image: @ki_tranada via Twitter

The annual, unpermitted and outlaw Dolores Hill Bomb event is being advertised as happening on Saturday, July 6, and neither police nor event organizers appear to be changing their approach after last year’s fiasco that saw 81 minors arrested.

The rowdy and unsanctioned annual Dolores Hill Bomb event has served as a way for skate punks to get their ya-ya’s out barreling down the very steep Dolores Hill for years.

But last year’s event took a dark turn when SFPD arrested 81 minors and 31 adults, handcuffing kids and detaining them for the night (and not even offering the bathroom access). DA Brooke Jenkins dropped the charges against all minors, and all but two of the adults. But that didn’t soothe hard feelings from parents, who brought a civil lawsuit against the city, which is still not resolved.

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Oh, and this year’s Dolores Hill Bomb is scheduled for Saturday, July 6 — a mere ten days from now.

So Mission Local checked in with the SFPD and the skateboarding community to see if either side was planning anything different this year, in terms of sanctioning the event, street closures, or less-harsh enforcement tactics. And no, it appears that neither side will be going about anything any differently this year.  

“If anyone chooses to break the law, the SFPD will not hesitate to make arrests,” SFPD spokesperson Evan Sernoffsky said in a statement to Mission Local. “Last year, individuals threw explosives at officers, assaulted officers and committed widespread vandalism. In response, the SFPD issued a dispersal order and ultimately arrested numerous people who chose to continue to commit violence and property destruction.”

“We will do the same this year if necessary,” he ominously added.

The district’s supervisor Rafael Mandelman also gave comment in rather draconian terms, telling Mission Local that skaters “shouldn’t come. Not this year. Not to this event.”

“If you participate,” Mandelman added, “you do so at the risk that the police are going to try to stop you.”

The event has no known official organizers. But members of the skateboard community feel like the city has dropped the ball by not sanctioning and helping organize the event.

“It basically seems like a trap,” skateboard advocate Aaron Breetwor told Mission Local. “If they know well enough that the event is going to happen, they should know well enough to conduct outreach.”

To be clear, the Dolores Hill Bomb is not for the faint of heart. Bicyclist Andrew Sanders was killed in a collision with a skateboarder at the 2020 event. Local skateboard entrepreneur Tomoko Oikawa fractured her skull and suffered a brain injury in an accident at the 2019 Dolores Hill Bomb. And one-time Thrasher magazine editor Jake Phelps was hospitalized after a serious head injury at 2017’s event.  

The city added raised dots to Dolores Street in 2020 in hopes of deterring the event and changing the skaters’ behavior, but that clearly has not worked.

Brace yourselves for another confrontation between a mob of teens on skateboards and the SFPD.

Related: SFPD Hit With the Inevitable Lawsuit Over ‘Dolores Hill Bomb’ Mass Arrest of 81 Minors [SFist]

Image: @ki_tranada via Twitter

Parents said they would sue over July’s draconian mass arrest of 117 people (83 of them minors) during this year’s Dolores Hill Bomb skateboarding meetup, and that lawsuit against the SFPD has now arrived.

SFist readers know that the annual guerrilla skateboarding event Dolores Hill Bomb will often get a little rowdy, but this past July’s event saw the mass arrest of 83 minors in addition to 32 people ages 18 and older. And yes, a Muni car was tagged, and one officer suffered a cut on the forehead. But it sure seemed heavy-handed that SFPD arrested 83 kids, some of whom they allegedly injured, over a matter where DA Brooke Jenkins dropped pretty much all of the charges anyway.

Some of the kids’ angry parents vowed to sue, and this has now come to pass. Mission Local reports that four of the arrested youngsters are named as the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit over the Dolores Hill Bomb arrests, in a suit brought by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF).

“These arrests and police conduct were unlawful and violated the youths’ constitutional rights,” Oakland-based PCJF senior counsel Rachel Lederman said in a Tuesday announcement. “Children and young adults were arrested, traumatized, and held for hours under inhumane conditions for merely participating in or happening to be near the youth skateboard event. They were kept waiting in the cold until the wee hours purely as an illegal dragnet to collect identifying information in a desperate attempt to justify the mass arrest.”

The full text of the 23-page lawsuit details how each of the four young plaintiffs was making seemingly innocent attempts to get home, but were swept up and detained by SFPD. And the lawsuit’s description of these children’s hours-long detention paints a disturbing picture of SFPD.

“Hours went by and Plaintiffs and other arrestees needed to urinate. Children implored the officers to allow them access to bathrooms but their requests were denied,” the lawsuit states. “Eventually, a sympathetic neighbor tossed a bucket down from her window. Some of the kids were able to urinate in the bucket or on the street. Others were forced to urinate in their pants, causing them shame, humiliation and embarrassment, and compounding their cold and discomfort.”

The kids’ arrest and detainment are also called out. “After the children and young adults had been held on the street for at least two hours, the police began searching them, taking their phones, jewelry, belts and other property,” the suit says. “The police handcuffed them behind their backs with painful plastic zip ties.”

There are also some issues brought up about how the kids were hastily released — some later than 4 a.m., and others to parents who were not confirmed to be the kids’ legal guardians.

This is a class action lawsuit, which means the attorneys would likely want other affected kids and families to join in the lawsuit too. And yes they are asking for money, or as the lawsuit puts it, damages for “pain, suffering, anxiety, and/or emotional distress, deprivation of liberty, and loss of constitutional rights.” But they also want the kids to be declared “factually innocent of all charges for which they were arrested,” and for their police records and fingerprint records to be destroyed.

The lawsuit was just submitted Tuesday morning, there are no court dates set, and as of press time it has not even been served to the SF City Attorney's Office.

“Once we are served with the lawsuit,” City Attorney spokesperson Jen Kwart told Mission Local, “we will review the complaint and respond in court.”

Related: Parents Fume That Their Kids Were Injured In Dolores Hill Bomb Arrests as SFPD Defends Harsh Tactics [SFist]

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It's a predictable ending to the mass arrest of everyone who happened to be standing near last month’s Dolores Hill Bomb skateboard rally — the DA is dropping the charges against all but two of the 34 adults arrested in the roundup.  

Last month’s iteration of the very rowdy annual skateboard event Dolores Hill Bomb ended with the brute-force mass arrest of 83 minors and 34 adults for failing to disperse. (Eyewitnesses say that most of the “adults” were 18 or 19). And pretty much all of those 83 minors saw their charges dropped a week later, as parents complained many were just in the wrong place at the wrong time when SFPD corralled and arrested the whole lot in the area.

And now the same applies to the 34 adults who were arrested, as Mission Local reports DA Brooke Jenkins just announced she’s dropping the charges against 32 of the 34 adults arrested that Saturday evening.

In the Friday afternoon statement seen above, the DA’s office says “the misdemeanor citations presented to my office for inciting a riot and failure to disperse are being discharged because we can not prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury the guilt of any specific individuals cited.”

The statement adds that “The SFPD had probable cause to act to disperse the group, which had been declared to be an unlawful assembly. But, the evidence does not clearly show which specific individuals were inciting a riot, heard the dispersal orders, and refused to comply with dispersal orders.”

Jenkins's statement indicates that the two still facing charges are being investigated for vandalism, and the Chronicle notes this possibly has something to do with the tagged-up J-Church car seen above. “There is no excuse for the vandalism that occurred to city and public property that day and our office is committed to holding individuals who commit vandalism and property crimes accountable,” the DA’s statement says.

But there still may be bigger legal ramifications beyond those two remaining suspects still facing  vandalism charges. Mission Local also reminds us that “dozens” of parents are threatening a federal civil rights lawsuit over the mass arrest, as some minors sustained injuries, were zip-tied for hours, and many were forced to urinate on themselves as they remained in custody for hours.

“We are definitely proceeding with a lawsuit for civil rights violations, which we are planning to file as a class action so that it potentially includes everyone that was arrested on 17th Street,” attorney Rachel Lederman told Mission Local. “The police department created the class by sealing everyone into that block so that they were all treated as a mass, without any individual basis for each arrest as the constitution requires.”

That said, the 32 adults who saw their charges dropped are technically not 100% out of the woods yet. As the Chronicle points out, Jenkins’s office could refile any charges within a one-year statute of limitations.

Related: Parents Fume That Their Kids Were Injured In Dolores Hill Bomb Arrests as SFPD Defends Harsh Tactics [SFist]

Image: @penkadilla via Twitter

The controversial mass-arrest of 81 minors (and 32 adults) at the year's unsanctioned Dolores Park Hill Bomb has some parents alleging brutal treatment of teens, but SFPD and Mayor Breed are doubling down on the need for that heavy response.

When you decide to mass-arrest 81 minors, along with 32 people who were 18 or older, there are bound to be some questions about how your police department handled those youngsters' arrests, or how the teens were treated while in police custody. And those difficult questions were already being asked when Mission Local published its extensive Sunday morning report on Saturday night’s Dolores Park Hill Bomb event that resulted in 113 arrests by police using riot tactics and pointing weapons at a crowd that was overwhelmingly minors.

Mission Local spoke to one 15-year-old who’d been arrested, and reported that “Girls hyperventilated” and “several peed their pants while being kept zip-tied on the bus, awaiting transfer to Mission Station.”

On Tuesday, Mission Local has more follow-up on teens who were injured or wrongly arrested. That report details several children being hit with batons or bean bags shot from rifles, and has parents complaining that the wide net of the mass arrest captured children who were not involved with the event.

One mother named Lisa tells Mission Local that she has screenshots proving her son was just passing through the event, and was merely on his way home on a scooter. “My son said that [the police] said, ‘Go that way, go this way,’ and pointed, but it was straight into the cops that were coming,” she told Mission Local. “It was complete entrapment.”

And yes, it is fair to wonder why teenagers skateboarding drew a paramilitary response that went far beyond the resources used to combat, say, drug trafficking in the Tenderloin.

The always-combative social media accounts of the police union, the SF Police Officers Association, posted a supercut of Saturday’s mayhem (and got some shit for using reporters’ content without permission). That video does detail an officer’s face being lacerated at the :45 mark, and a Chronicle report confirms, with the suspect likely a 15- or 16-year-old.

But those arrested seem to have taken far worse injuries. The Chronicle spoke with 32-year-old photographer Alessandra Nieto, who reportedly “suffered bruising on her arms and legs from being tackled by police.” And Mission Local adds several teens were lacerated by the zip ties used to cuff them.

Mayor London Breed issued a statement Monday, saying, “People assaulted police officers, set fires, and vandalized property, including Muni vehicles. No one at this event was arrested for skateboarding.”

An SFPD press release described the incident as a “Mission District Riot,” language they have not used to describe the event in the past. That release also adds that “As crowds moved out of the park at approximately 7:35 p.m. there were reports of gunshots at 18th and Church streets near an occupied MUNI light rail vehicle (LRV), which was unable to move due to the crowd blocking the street.”  

SFPD chief Bill Scott insists that it was the laceration of the officer’s face that led to the escalation. "The helmets went on, and rightfully so," Scott told KPIX. "No officer is going to stand to protect the public without protective equipment while people were throwing bottles and whatever else they were doing and explosives. And they should not be expected to do that."

And one neighbor says his house had taken gunshot fire, according to KPIX. “There was three bullet holes that went through the front door of our building, and there was one bullet hole that went through our living room,” that Dolores Street resident said. Though KPIX also details that other homes were damaged by “BB holes,” so these may not have been full-on firearms. SFPD’s claim that “officers located and seized several firearms left at the scene” may or may not also be a reference to BB guns.

In years past, the Dolores Park Hill Bomb has usually been a one-day story in the media. This year’s aggressive tactics and large numbers of minors arrested ensure we’ll be talking about this one for a while, and it will likely be the poster boy example of San Francisco police use-of-force.

Related: Police Crack Down on Skateboarders' Dolores Hill Bomb Saturday, Arrest and Detain Dozens [SFist]

Image: @ki_tranada via Twitter

Instead of one there were three Dolores Street Hill Bomb events over the past week and a half, and during the third one on Friday, a cyclist collided with skateboarder sending both of them to the hospital — and the cyclist died from his injuries on Sunday.

The first and what we thought was the official Dolores Hill Bomb happened a week ago Thursday, on July 9, leading to at least one hospitalization and several injuries — and the vandalism of a vehicle that unknowingly drove into the chaos during the event on Dolores between 21st and 19th streets. But as the Examiner reports, different dates were promoted for the event this year, leading to confusion and multiple Hill Bombs — including a "Part 2" on Saturday, July 11.

As one local skater and friend of the deceased cyclist, Daniel Mejia, tells the Ex, the third Hill Bomb felt sparsely attended and "The energy and the overall vibe of it was very odd. Even before it started, it felt like it shouldn’t have happened."

The cyclist, Andrew Sanders, was a recent graduate of San Francisco State University, graduating with a BA in visual art. He leaves behind a group of friends, some of whom gathered for a small vigil on Dolores Street on Sunday. Sofia Montes, a coworker of Sanders, tells KPIX he was "Super creative, always dancing, super happy. Such a nice guy to be around."

And Sanders' roommate of five years, Jonathan Concool, tells the Examiner, "Anyone and everyone he met, he could always find something to connect with them. He’s the most full-of-life person I’ve ever met."

Sanders reportedly suffered a head injury in the crash that led to an aneurysm.

His parents say they hope to set up a fund to support the arts in Sanders' name.

SFMTA chief Jeffrey Tumlin mistakenly tweeted that two people had died Friday night while Sanders and the injured skateboarder remained hospitalized with critical injuries. He later corrected himself, as the Chronicle reports, but he instructed the agency to immediately begin installing the Botts' dots across the street to deter future Hill Bombs. "SF has a world renowned skate scene I love," he wrote, tweeting the photo of the installation. "So I hate doing this to Dolores."

"We’re certainly not anti-skate at the SFMTA [but] we did need to stop what was happening," Tumlin said to KPIX.

In addition to Sanders' death and the skateboarder injured this year, another young man who was seen spectacularly wiping out on social media was hospitalized with a brain bleed on July 9.

At the 2019 Hill Bomb, a wipeout left skateboarder 23-year-old Tomoko Oikawa hospitalized with a skull fracture and traumatic brain injury. Oikawa has since been recovering, and said in a February interview that she was re-learning how to skate.*

Regarding the new speed dots, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman wrote on Facebook over the weekend, "I understand kids wanting to skateboard, have fun, and congregate after having had to shelter in place for several months now. However, the public safety concerns extend well beyond the possible spread of COVID-19 and serious injuries have occurred to participants, neighbors and passersby."

Previously: Crowd Gathers For Annual 'Dolores Hill Bomb,' Smashes Windows Of Vehicle That Drove Into the Fray

*This post has been updated with new information about Tomoko Oikawa's recovery.

The annual event known as Dolores Hill Bomb, in which a bunch of skaters — including professionals — commandeer the hilly part of Dolores Street next to the park, has marked another casualty. Respected skater and local skateboard entrepreneur Tomoko Oikawa, a.k.a. Tomo, took a nasty spill on her last ride of the day and fractured her skull.

The event took place on Thursday, July 11, and 21-year-old Oikawa remains hospitalized with brain swelling. She is reportedly responsive, though not speaking, and a portion of her right skull had to be removed. Oikawa's older sister, Shizuka Oikawa-Fung, tells the Examiner that Tomo has been heavily sedated for pain management, and the removed portion of her skull is being kept "incubated in a lab in Los Angeles."

Tomo is the founder of local skateboard company Tomo Skate Co., which sells artistic skate grip sheets for skateboards. And as CBS SF reports, the local skating community has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $50,000 for Tomo's care and recovery. It has so far raised almost $18,000.

She is reportedly responding to touch and light, but is mostly resting over a week after the accident.

Shizuka-Fung tells CBS SF, "It’s very hard. I try to be strong... she’s so strong and and independent. Seeing her so helpless in bed, hair all gone and tubes and machines everywhere, it’s really daunting. It’s really daunting."

The annual hill-bombing event, which began in 2016, was the site of an ugly confrontation between skaters and police in 2017. That same year, recently deceased Thrasher magazine editor Jake Phelps took a bad spill at the Hill Bomb and was hospitalized.

Below, video from this year's Hill Bomb, including one from Instagram showing a kid riding down the hill while simultaneously shooting off fireworks.

A clearly medicated Jake Phelps, the 54-year-old skateboarder and editor of the skateboarding magazine Thrasher, spoke out to NBC Bay Area from Zuckerberg General Hospital on Thursday about the incident Tuesday night on Dolores Hill that led to him getting a big gash in his head and a concussion. Phelps's wipeout, and the inability of emergency personnel to reach him quickly due to the sizable crowd gathered for the second annual "Hill Bomb" led indirectly to a showdown and near riot between police and skaters that went on for over an hour — it also included a major wipeout by another skater who went hurling over an SFPD cruiser, which some onlookers claim was caused by the officer sticking out an arm in front of him.

Phelps describes his own wipeout to NBC Bay Area thusly: "I did it. I did it fast the second time. I hit a reflector, pitched my wheel sideways, I just flew." Confusedly he adds, "I whacked my head pretty good. I don't know what a concussion feels like. I don't feel like I can't figure out what I'm doing."

Regarding the second skater's wipeout, Phelps says of the police, "It's stupid to block the street off, and the guy couldn't get out of the way, just high sided over the car."

Phelps says they should probably consider getting a permit for the event next year, since so many people turned out to watch and participate.

Meanwhile, SFPD chief Bill Scott said they were starting an investigation into the events that transpired Tuesday to determine if one of the officers was at fault. No arrests were made during the Hill Bomb event.

Below, you can see Phelps in NBC Bay Area's impossibly tiny video — full size can be found here.

Previously: Fight Rages On About Who Started Fight Between Cops And Skaters At Dolores Park