A parolee with an arrest record for armed robbery and burglary allegedly stole a car on New Year's Eve that was then involved in a hit-and-run collision in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood that left two female pedestrians dead.
The collision happened around 4 p.m. at Mission and Second streets, and police arrived to find the two seriously injured victims, one of whom was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect fled the scene on foot after crashing the vehicle, as the Examiner reports, but was then soon detained.
The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Troy McAlister of San Francisco, as the Chronicle reports, and he was arrested Thursday on a variety of charges including voluntary manslaughter, possession of a stolen vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, burglary, DUI, possessing a gun and a large-capacity ammunition magazine, and violating the terms of his parole.
The vehicle McAlister was driving was apparently reported stolen just minutes before, around 4 p.m. After striking another vehicle and then the two women, McAlister allegedly ran out of the car and into a nearby commercial building, where police quickly located him.
Video from the scene posted to the Citizen app shows a shirtless man being handcuffed by police, and a black Honda partially on the curb on Second Street.
Two Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash in SoMa, Driver Arrested @CitizenApp
78 2nd St Yesterday 4:09:36 PM PST
A motorist whose car was also struck by the suspect vehicle was reportedly not injured.
As the Chronicle reports via court documents, McAlister was arrested in San Francisco two months ago, on November 6, by the San Francisco State University Police Department. He was allegedly in possession of burglary tools, and was arrested on suspicion of auto burglary in the vicinity of a student housing complex on campus.
There is also a record of a 2015 arrest for armed robbery, though it's not clear when McAlister did time in prison or for what crime (given the parole violations). McAlister would later file a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming that the SFPD used excessive force during the 2015 arrest, but the case was ultimately dismissed.
The victims in Thursday's crash have not yet been publicly identified.
Update: The two victims have been identified as 27-year-old Hanako Abe of San Francisco, and 60-year-old Elizabeth Platt. And as the Chronicle reports, the blame game regarding McAlister has begun between the DA's office, the SFPD, and the state parole board.
