San Francisco police chased and then arrested a pair of juveniles who were allegedly part of a quartet of carjackers who targeted two Asian male victims in San Francisco on Monday afternoon.
Two boys, ages 14 and 16, were arrested on Treasure Island after a chase across the Bay Bridge, and after they crashed an allegedly carjacked BMW and tried to run away on foot. One of the boys, apparently the 14-year-old, reportedly discarded a semi-automatic handgun just prior to the arrests.
The SFPD details the arrests in a release today, describing two separate carjacking incidents that were reported in two different San Francisco neighborhoods on Monday afternoon. The first occurred around 3:10 p.m. in Potrero Hill, and a 37-year-old Asian male victim says he was approached by four male suspects while he was sitting in his vehicle. The victim says that one of the suspects yelled at him to get out of the car, and he refused, but then another of the suspects pointed a firearm at him, so he complied.
The victim then ran away from the suspects, and they were unable to take the car because he still had the keys. Officers from Bayview Station then responded to the scene and canvassed the area for witnesses.
San Francisco Police Arrest Armed Robbery Crew
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) March 30, 2022
The suspects were identified as a 14-year-old male juvenile and a 16-year-old male juvenile both of Oakland. Please visit the attached link for a full synopsis of this incident ➡️ https://t.co/xdhSwGWRNe pic.twitter.com/p5JZ5c8GSt
An hour later, in the Forest Knolls neighborhood, a 76-year-old Asian man says he was standing in his open garage with his BMW when he was approached by four suspects demanding that he give them the keys to the car.
"One of the suspects then dragged the victim out of the garage, pushed him to the ground, and proceeded to assault him," the SFPD says in the release. "While on the ground, the suspects went through the victim’s pockets and took his car keys."
The victim suffered some non-life-threatening injuries, and Park Station officers soon arrived at the home on the 100 block of Galewood Circle.
About 15 minutes after the carjacking, around 4:20 p.m., SFPD dispatch received calls about a BMW driving erratically and at a high rate of speed on I-80 toward the Bay Bridge. And then things take a turn for the TV-dramatic.
"Officers from Tenderloin Station located the vehicle traveling westbound on Interstate 80," the SFPD says. "The BMW that was driving recklessly matched the description of the victim vehicle from the carjacking on Galewood Circle. Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the BMW, however, the vehicle immediately fled at a high rate of speed."
The chase ensued across the Bay Bridge, the BMW exited at Treasure Island and crashed.
It remains unclear what happened with the other two suspects involved — but perhaps they were in a separate vehicle, the one that they drove into San Francisco with.
The two teens arrested, both residents of Oakland, were charged with a slew of felonies including assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, carjacking, elder abuse, attempted carjacking, attempted robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, felony hit and run, and felony evasion.
Both juveniles were booked into San Francisco's Juvenile Justice Center, and the SFPD is likely still on the hunt for the other two suspects.
The investigation remains open and anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-444 or send a text to TIP411 and begin the text message with "SFPD."
