Police officers began chasing a man with an outstanding warrant who fled on an electric scooter while riding on sidewalks and in the street against traffic before he crashed into an elderly woman on Powell Street, seriously injuring her.
The San Francisco Police Department said the chase began around 8:30 pm Sunday after an officer spotted 35-year-old Melthon Branch riding an electric scooter on the sidewalk near Ellis and Jones streets, according to a release from SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. The officer said he recognized Branch from previous encounters and knew he was wanted on an outstanding US Marshals warrant, prompting him to activate lights and sirens and ordering him to stop.
According to prosecutors, Branch instead sped away, weaving between sidewalks and traffic lanes, riding against traffic through multiple intersections, and forcing pedestrians to jump out of the way. As he headed north on the west sidewalk of Powell near O'Farrell Street, authorities say he struck a 72-year-old woman with the scooter, throwing both of them to the ground. The woman suffered a fractured elbow and broken wrist that required surgery.
Prosecutors say Branch immediately ran from the crash, fleeing on foot before diving under a table at a nearby restaurant on the 200 block of O’Farrell Street — presumably Hinodeya Ramen, where SFPD officers arrested him. Investigators say they recovered suspected methamphetamine, more than $2,000 in cash, a digital scale, drug-packaging materials, and three credit cards belonging to other people.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has charged Branch with multiple felonies, including evading police causing serious bodily injury, felony hit-and-run, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, battery causing serious bodily injury, driving against traffic while evading police, and possession of methamphetamine for sale. Prosecutors are also seeking to keep him jailed without bail pending trial, arguing that he poses a public safety risk.
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