December 8, 2011

Crime Beat: Rape


Via the Fair Oaks Community Coalition:
Dear neighbors:

Today at 6:30 AM, a woman was attacked on 24th Street and raped around the corner on Fair Oaks Street. The woman has been hospitalized and is under care in San Francisco. The SFPD cordoned off the northwest corner during their investigation, and the fire department was later called to wash blood from the sidewalk. [A neighbor] who lives across the street found a bloody undergarment in shrubs near her home and gave it to the police, who have classified this as a “very violent crime,” and are giving it their utmost attention.

There were apparently no witnesses, and are no suspects at present – however, in the event that you may have heard or seen something in this area at that time, PLEASE NOTIFY THE POLICE DIRECTLY. Believe it or not, the preferred contact method is not by phone (which ties up the station’s switchboard), but by email or Twitter:
But if your only contact method is telephone, please call the TIP LINE: (415) 392-2623.

Three Fair Oaks neighbors went to Mission Station late this morning to ask how our community might best offer support and assistance to the woman. Officer Salvador suggested that cards and notes could be forwarded to her from Mission Station. Needless to say, her identity will not (and should not) be made public, but assuming that she’s unable to work for a while, some financial assistance might be welcome, particularly at this time of year. As soon as a fund can be established, contribution information will be provided to this email list.

While the case is under investigation, the police strongly advise all of us neighbors not to discuss any “facts” that we may have heard or believe to be true. The reason is simple: Misinformation made public can prejudice a case, and could provide the perpetrator’s defense attorney grounds for dismissal when it comes to trial.

In the meantime, Officer Salvador recommends that extra attention be paid to the personal safety of our families and our homes in the following ways:
  • Never, ever walk down a public street while talking or texting on your phone! C.W. Nevius’ recent column in the Chronicle explains why. Doubters should note that at Mission Station this morning, two young women walked in to report exactly this sort of attack. One of them had just been mugged from behind while talking on her phone on busy Mission Street at 10:30 AM!
  • Lock the doors and windows of your home! Burglars are looking for holiday gifts, and will be delighted to take yours.
  • Lock your car, and leave nothing of value on view inside. Even a trash bag full of used tissues may prompt a smash-and-grab – especially if it’s a recycled bag with an interesting label. The thief will get nothing for his efforts, but you’ll still have a broken window to replace.
  • When you’re away from home, leave the lights on, inside and out. And always keep your porch lights on when it’s dark outside (morning & evening commute hours). Set them on timers, if possible, and add a radio for sound effects. Like germs, burglars thrive in the dark.
  • If you’re going out of town, cancel mail, package and newspaper deliveries, or ask a neighbor to pick them up from your front steps. Why advertise that no one’s at home?
  • When you see something suspicious – even a little bit suspicious – call 911 immediately! The police will never, ever scold you for giving them the opportunity to stop a crime while it’s happening. And if it’s a false alarm, they’ll still thank you for staying alert.
These are commonsense precautions that should be heeded by all. For more ideas, please check http://www.sfsafe.org.
In the interval since the above email went out a suspect has been identifed: "a black male, mid 30’s, 5’9” – 6’00”, medium build last seen wearing a black hoodie, and dark pants." More info on the SFPD website

Update (12/13): Get involved. Go to the community meeting on December 14.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

How horrible; I had my purse taken from me at the exact same spot 22 years ago & the guy beat me up pretty bad. This was at 4pm!! I am so sorry for this poor woman. I do hope the police catch this animal!!

Anonymous said...

This is just awful....

Anonymous said...

Thank you for blogging this, and including so much good information.

I just recently installed a light-sensor socket to use for our porch and it works great (less than $15). It's just something you screw into normal socket, and then your bulb screws into it. It senses night/lack of light, and turns itself on; off again in the morning. You can get one from Tuggy's I'm sure, i got mine from Cliff's. Ask for a 'dusk to dawn light socket'.

Anonymous said...

I agree this is awful, but should a female alone, be walking out at night between the hours of 3 and 6 am anyway? as the police report noted.

I mean seriously. Call a cab or don't walk then. And by NO means am I condoning what happened. The rapist committed a serious crime.

Neighbor said...

First, many women walk to work at 6:30 a.m. (for example, walk down 24th Street past Fair Oaks to meet BART for a 7:30 or 8:00 shift). Many people do not have the luxury of taking a cab at will. And our streets should be safe for everyone at any time of day or night. As citizens we have the right to the city.

Second, I know you see your statement as harmless, perhaps even a helpful warning. But it is not. Your statement can be perceived as an attempt to shift responsibility from the rapist (and the society that makes rape possible) to the survivor herself. This is a common phenomenon known as victim blame, and your actions may cause real psychological harm. (Please research this.) Maybe you made this comment offhand as a way of making sense of a tragic situation and helping yourself to process it emotionally. But it is not an appropriate public response.

Survivors: If you have been assaulted, it was NOT your fault.

Anonymous said...

I walk my dog on this street just after 7 am every day and saw the police lines but had no idea what had happened. This is terrible and scary and I wish only the speediest recovery for the victim.

That area is actually fairly busy in the early morning due to the school across the street, the corporate shuttles which stop around the corner and the city bus. I have always thought of it as a populated and safe walk, but will probably think twice about taking that route from now on.

Anonymous said...

Neighbor is right. If "Anonymous" is typical old school Noe then I say don't let the door hit you in the ass as we gentrify you out.

Anonymous said...

This crime took place at 6:30 in the morning two blocks from a girls high school where they start school at 7:30 am. I doubt that every parent can walk their daughter to school every morning. It is a very sad thing to read people who assume that the victim likely could have avoided this. It is the 2nd such attack in the area by an obviously very person who must be caught. Also FYI for those who are not aware, the NV police protection is way down due to the leave of absence our local police beat cop is on until February and a lack of attention to Noe in deference to the higher crime rate in the Mission.

Anonymous said...

this should be send to all the school araound the neigboorhood, because we all have kids walking toward their school/home's during morning hours or the afternoon. please let your kids not to text and to be aware of their surrondins.

Anonymous said...

This is horrible and shocking. My heart goes out to the victim, and I agree that in NO WAY is this the victims fault. I'm a little bit disturbed by the previous comment (posted by anonymous at 4:33pm). Thank you for your blog coverage to help bring neighborhood awareness to this horrible crime.

Anonymous said...

Ok, let's be clear on this one. I am the anon commenter @ 4:33. Read what I said people:

I was quoting the police report which
DID mention one of the victims was out walking at 3 am. Is that sensible? I would say there is considerable risk to walk at that time ALONE, esp for a female.

Again, let's be clear. I said NOTHING nor implied NOTHING about blaming the victim. NOTHING. I mentioned how serious of a crime this is. To even imply that you can "perceive" my statement as a way to shift blame to the victim is absurd, arrogant and mis-guided.

It IS sad that our streets are not safe at ALL hours for ALL citizens, but they are not.

As a single, healthy, 6'0" male, mid 30's I would NOT walk that area at 3am, nor at 6am alone. Again the false assumptions that I am an "old school" male is a stupid statement, ignorant stereotyping and serves NO purpose and adds nothing to the conversation.

Anonymous said...

this is a horrible crime. what kind of fool would say a female should not be on the street at night. some of us work evening or night shifts and dont have the choice of going home at regular hours. some of us have dogs to walk at night. some of us just need to walk around the block. how dare anyone suggest that we should not be out at night.

Anonymous said...

"some of us just need to walk around the block"..

at 3am? alone?

Now I'm calling your bluff at your righteous indignation.

Anonymous said...

Ummm... yeah. Sometimes, a woman needs to be outside at 3 AM. There is no reason she--or anyone else!--should expect bad things to happen. We all (men and women) have a right to our streets and neighborhoods, we have a right to be able to go outdoors, whether we're going to work or not and be safe. To say otherwise is patently ridiculous.

How dare you judge her for why she was out there. What are you trying to say? It would be all right if she had to go to work, but not all right if, say, maybe she couldn't sleep or had an argument with her boyfriend and needed to calm down?

Why she was out is beside the point. She was raped. She is not the criminal; the sick creep who assaulted her is.

Anonymous said...

I'm confused on the picture posted. Is this the rapist and how do they know this? Where was this picture taken?

Anonymous said...

The annonymous at 4:33 comments are arrogant and ignorant. He acts like he has the right to nitpick and criticize people for not being exactly like him. He also has difficulty with reading comprehension.
Bottom line is that rapists should not be allowed to walk among us.

I wish the survivor strength and courage.

Anonymous said...

Innocent people do not need to justify their actions. Only a sociopath would blame anyone other than the monster who committed this terrible crime.

Anonymous said...

There have been plenty of times when I had to be walking home at 3am. You see, many of us work in the restaurants that you patronize and keep late hours because you want to be out late and complain that SF is not an all night city. Cabs are not very affordable and buses do not run every five minutes all night long (let alone all day.) It is almost impossible to keep a car in this city anymore. It is so unaffordable. At this point I walk a ten minute walk at 5:30am to get to work. I am always grateful that I am rarely harassed at that hour and never assaulted. However, I have been harassed on the streets when walking alone plenty of times no matter the neighborhood and no matter the hour. I don't know any women who haven't been either. Deep prayers go out to the woman in the hospital who endured such violence. And prayers to every woman because we have to face this fear ALL THE TIME and still go about our business. By the way, go ahead and vote for more budget cuts to mental health services. It really serves everyone. Gentrification has not made things safer, just more delusional of safety with less concern for workers.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous @ 12:20 PM. You're a 6' tall male in your 30s and you wouldn't walk alone at 6:00 am in Noe Valley??? Wow. What a sheltered, fearful life you must lead. That's ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous at 4:33--You absolutely did include judgement and imply the victim was somewhat at fault. Let's break down your sentence: "I agree this is awful, but should a female alone, be walking out at night between the hours of 3 and 6 am anyway?"

The work "but" signifies that you are shifting from and in some way negating the previous part of the sentence--so while agreeing "it's awful, BUT ..." you are saying yes, it's awful, BUT there is something in your view that makes it less awful, more justified, etc. Then you go on to use the word "should." Should implies judgement. "You shouldn't have nought that expensive car." "I should work out this morning (because I am judging that the right thing to do) but am tired." SO when you say should women be out at that hour after the "but" you are in fact saying: "yes it was awful. But I see something that makes it less about the awfulness. ACtually, I am switching from looking at the rapist to form my comment about what a woman should and shouldn't be doing in my view, and I am implying blame on this woman for not following what I have deemed to be the rules of society." That is what you are saying, whether you are willing to admit to it or not and it is those little comments that are extremely harmful to our society. It doesn't matter what you intended to say--what you said is harmful.

Nicole said...

Dear Community,
I encourage us to shift the conversation to how we can remain safe when there is a violent criminal walking our streets. We should not have to live in fear. What can we as a neighborhood do to improve the safety of our streets? Install more lights? Ask the police to patrol our neighborhood more often? Perhaps hold a neighborhood meeting to discuss ways of keeping safe and alert when we walk down the street.
Please, let us shift the conversation to finding ways in which we can create a safe neighborhood.
Sincerely,
A concerned neighbor

Anonymous said...

@ Nicole - I would like to participate in whatever good ideas there are. This is horrifying and terrifying.

Thanks to the earlier poster who suggested motion-lights. Other good ideas?

I am a mom who lives 1.5 blocks away and saw the police lights but didn't hear a thing during the awful event. I routinely walk right there to my car from my home @ 5-6am ('cause I don't have a garage & have to drive to work - yes, that early).

Suggestions on making this the last of an awful event - welcome.

Anonymous said...

Suggestion:

Carry mace or pepper spray. It's legal and does work.

I used it once on Sanchez near 26th st. to stop two young (high school) latino boys from grabbing my wallet. This was about 7pm at nite.

Be safe. Be alert.

Anonymous said...

Will all of you who say you are disgusted with this act and want to do something, actually do something small in your own home? I'm challenging you:
- keep your porch light on, or install a motion or a day/light night (do it this weekend)
- pick up flyers off of your neighbor's house or their newspaper, if you know they're out for several days, so that it doesn't look like the house is empty
- pick up a spare
- trim the bushes or trees on your street if overgrown
- if you don't own your place, bug your landlord to do this or just offer to do it yourself and ask them to give you a break on the rent for doing it for them.

Anonymous said...

The first victim was going to work early to take over a co-worker's shift at the airport.

Anonymous said...

Thanks you for those who gave suggestions on making our streets safer. I will definitely look into the automated porch lights. I'd also like to add that if you ever hear something alarming outside (e.g. someone screaming), do not hesitate to call the police! Do not assume someone else will call them, and do not feel that you shouldn't call just because you're not really sure what's going on. If you have any feeling at all that you should possibly call 911, just do so. You will not be penalized for calling if it turns out to be a false alarm. Time is of the essence for the police to search for a suspect, and the 911 operator can often gather helpful information that might be hard to recall if the police were looking for information later on.

Anonymous said...

I sometimes have to walk early in the am to go to work and can not afford a cab. And at that time, the bus does not run. I walk past fair oaks and 24th a lot. I have always felt safe, but after knowing this story i feel lots of empathy for the victim. I was walking few hours before the same day. It could happen to anybody.

Amy P said...

What "Anonymous" said could be called a micro-aggresssion: completely unintentionally causing harm to those of us who have been assaulted or could potentially have been at this place and time when the purpose was to be helpful.

@Anonymous, if you read this, It was the tone of the "seriously" comment that sealed my aversion to what you said, which was largely common sense good advice. I, too, have to walk very early to BART from my daughter's carpool in Noe Valley. This could have been me. As a single mom, I cannot afford taxis. The delivery of your advice comes as haughty and condescending, although not intended that way, clearly.

You could take it as a life lesson. Compassion is always better than judgment, and tone is hard to convey in written text.

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of anonymouses here.
Which one are you referring to?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any information on how we can help the victim? It was mentioned on the news that neighbors were collecting funds to cover hospital costs, I was wondering if there were any details anywhere.

Anonymous said...

to the last posts...
please move to the NEW thread (for additional information etc).

There is a community meeting TOMORROW and an plea to help the last victim cover her rent as she's recovering (not working) from the attack.

I'm a (female) walker too, passing that intersection and all the intersections mentioned in the article quite often.

S - noevalley.

Anonymous said...

DEFINITELY without any doubt is it the victims fault!!! However, it is short sighted to not also realize life is dangerous and it is always about limiting your exposure. Anyone who has lived in towns like New Orleans or pre-gentrified metros should know this. Of course most people don't have the luxury of security guards and cabs -- if they don't, it isn't that they deserve this to happen in any way. But sometimes, to limit the chances, it may be best to take the longer way home or whatever...yes, it sucks to have to think about but its better than the alternative. There is an overall systemic problem in this world and our country - rape and violence towards women is treated pretty lightly (even sorta encouraged in some places)...we just don't take it seriously and our jails are overcrowded so we treat rapists like one time offenders. You don't reform a rapist -- ever. And those of you who maybe raped and now live "normal" lives (think date rapers) are kidding yourselves -- its a DNA flaw that can't be rectified with therapy or jail no matter how many bleeding hearts want to believe that. They should be put down like a sick animal. Sadly, until we take rape seriously in this country, these instances will continue to happen with alarming frequency -- even in a safe - yet complacent - city like SF. Hearts break for these victims - hope for full recovery and wish them luck.

Anonymous said...

sorry, meant above that it is definitely NEVER the victims fault...grammar bad today

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where ot buy mace or pepper spray?

Anonymous said...

You can buy mace / pepper spray at Sports Authority. My roomies and I just got some. It's better to get the gel kind, because in a windy city like SF the spray may not aim where you want it to.