An easy North Beach drug bust went awry early Saturday morning when two SFPD officers took a shot at a fleeing suspect, but ended up nicking two innocent bystanders instead. The officers witnessed Jesus Paredes Rodriguez, 20 of San Pablo, carrying out what looked like a drug deal on Broadway around 2 a.m. When the officers approached Rodriguez, he took off running and waved a semi-automatic pistol at the cops, prompting them to open fire. According to SFPD sources, only one bullet was fired, but it was off target and struck two bystanders each in the leg.
The victims of the wayward bullet, a man and a woman, both ended up at S.F. General Hospital where they were treated for their non-life threatening injuries. Rodriguez, the alleged drug dealer, was booked on the scene for weapons charges but came away from the incident unscathed. The officers claim they spotted Rodriguez in possession of marijuana after the supposed deal went down. SFPD is calling the shooting "reasonable", saying in a statement, "While it is still unclear why the suspect was armed, the presence of such a weapon, and [the suspect's] willingness to point it at uniformed police officers, made him a significant threat to the public as well as the officers.”
One strip club employee told the Examiner he'd like to see more police presence on the block of bars and strip joints and at least one English tourist was surprised by the sight of a handgun.
