"I forgot about that dummy!" SFist commenter PorkedBun exclaimed after being reminded of that photo of Gregory Tyler Graniss, one of the men accused of vandalizing a Muni bus after the SF Giants World Series win in 2012.
"Whatever happened to that guy?" commenter RinSF asked. What a good question! Let's start at the beginning:
The celebrations following the SF Giants' triumph in the 2012 World Series lasted from late the night of October 28 to early the following morning. All told, prosecutors ended up charging a total of 14 people for incidents across the city, including assaults on police officers, robbery, vandalism and discharging a firearm from a window (about 20 others were arrested and cited for various misdemeanors or for public intoxication).
But one man stood above them all: after an SF Chronicle photographer took a picture of a man smashing the windshield of an 8X-Bayshore Express bus with a metal police barricade, the picture was circulated by police and concerned citizens. Feeling the heat, Graniss turned himself in a few days later, and was charged with felony vandalism and willful tampering with a passenger transit vehicle.
“The Giants’ victory was amazing and it really brought out the best in San Francisco and unfortunately the worst in Gregory,” his attorney Douglas Rappaport said at Graniss' first court appearance.
“He is very ashamed of his actions and very, very sorry.” But not so sorry that he was willing to plead guilty.
Oh, but the wheels of justice grind ever so slowly. As of January, 2014, the Chron reports that Graniss and Nicholas Hudson, who also allegedly attacked the bus, were still awaiting trial.
After RinSF asked about Graniss' fate, I emailed San Francisco District Attorney's office spokesperson Alex Bastian, who responded:
"Both Graniss and Nicholas Hudson were found guilty of the charge of rioting," (not, as you might recall, the original charges of felony vandalism and willful tampering with a passenger transit vehicle). "They were both placed on probation, and have certain terms and conditions associated with that."
"We also had a restitution hearing, and the judge mandated that both defendants pay restitution," which is something DA Gascon had vowed to pursue at the time of Graniss' arrest.
Bastian didn't say how long Hudson and Graniss are on probation, or how much restitution they must pay: one hopes a lot, as the bus, which cost $700,000 and had recently had $300,000 of repairs, was totaled in the incident. That bus' replacement was all paid for by taxpayer dollars, as, at least at the time, Muni's insurance policy didn't cover damage caused by arson.
So, I emailed Bastian back with those probation and restitution questions, and I'll update if and when he responds. But regardless of the punishment, San Franciscans, heed the tale of Gregory Tyler Graniss, who will always have the above photo come up first when his name is googled (unless he does something even worse that is also photographed). Learn from his terrible fate!
Related: SFPD Braced For Shenanigans If The Giants Win Tonight