If these two recent crime reports are any indication, the transition to 2012 was a stabby one for San Francisco. In less than a week, arguments over the price of crack cocaine and the outcome of a Mission District soccer match ended in unfortunate stabbings.

In the first incident, which occurred around 11 p.m. last Friday on a particularly rocky block of Polk Street between Turk and Eddy, a 30-year-old man attempted to purchase three crack rocks for $20. The victim's would-be dealer took offense to the man's offer, quickly stabbing him in the hand and taking off running. The victim, unsurprisingly, refused to go to the hospital or help investigators find the knifey crack dealer. (Sidenote: Was $20 too low? Or was this dealer just feeling flush before New Year's Eve? Please advise, our experience with crack rock pricing is limited to old Chapelle's Show sketches.)

On Monday, another man was stabbed on the soccer fields at 25th and Harrison after an argument got out of hand during an afternoon game. The roughly 30-year-old suspect and the 25-year-old victim got in to an on-field fight before the suspect stabbed the other man in the thigh and fled the scene. The victim was taken to San Francisco to be mended, but we fear his pickup soccer career might be sidelined for a while.

In related news, despite 50 homicides in the city last year, violent crime fell 6 percent since 2010 and 18 percent since 2008. Making 2011's homicide rate the second-lowest in San Francisco since the 1960s, according to the AP. Anyone with information in either stabbing is encouraged to call the SFPD's anonymous tipline at (415) 575-4444 or via text message to TIP411.

[BCN/Appeal]
[BCN/CBS5]