A wave of knife crimes has hit San Francisco, including one stabbing on a tony block known for its luxury retailers, another at a tourist hot-spot, and a third at a church known for its work with the down-and-out.
On Saturday at 4:31 a.m., San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Officer Gordon Shyy says that a passing patrol car was flagged down at Maiden Lane, a short Union Square-adjacent street known for stores like Chanel, Marc Jacobs, and Yves Saint Laurent (and, far longer ago, for 75-cent French sex workers). According to Shyy, officers discovered a 22-year-old man suffering from puncture wounds to the torso.
The details of what led up to the stabbing are unclear, Shyy said, because the victim was able to provide only "minimal information while going in and out of consciousness prior to transport" to San Francisco General Hospital for his wounds. What police say they do know is that the victim and suspect "were involved in a scuffle," and the suspect, described only as a man in his 30s, fled the scene, and hasn't been arrested at publication time.
A suspect was arrested, however, in a Haight Street stabbing that took place early Monday, Shyy says. In that case, a 41-year-old man was stabbed in the armpit at about 12:30 Monday morning on Haight between Clayton and Cole Streets.
The suspect was identified by Shyy as 23-year-old Samuel Linsday, who has no known address. Lindsay fled after the stabbing, but was tracked down by police near Oak and Shrader Streets, Shyy says, and was booked into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and an outstanding traffic warrant.
The victim was taken to SF General, and is expected to survive, Shyy says.
SFPD were also successful in nabbing a suspect in the stabbing of an employee at Glide Memorial Church, a world-renowned Tenderloin ministry known for its work with the poor.
At 10 a.m. Monday, a man who has yet to be named by police stabbed a Glide staffer, Shyy says. According to KCBS, "officers were told by unidentified witnesses when they arrived that a staff member inside the church’s kitchen had been stabbed in the shoulder by a volunteer."
The suspect fled, but was found shortly thereafter aboard a Muni bus at Sixth and Market, Shyy says, and was arrested.
The victim, who was treated by Glide staff until paramedics arrived, was transported to SF General with non-life-threatening wounds, and is expected to recover, Shyy says.