How to Have Breakfast in Guatemala Without Leaving Bernal Heights

April 4, 2014April 3, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

Writing for SFWeekly, Eva Recinos shares a delicious discovery: The Universal Bakery on Mission Street right at the foot of Cortland does breakfast Guatemalan style, and they do it right. Eva writes:

Sweet bread is a ritual of sorts in Guatemala; many families stuff warm paper bags with hot sweet bread and take it home to devour with breakfast. Universal Bakery dishes up an especially stellar traditional Guatemalan breakfast. For $9, you can get a piping hot plate of black beans, cheese, sour cream, eggs, and sausage. If you don’t eat meat, you can get the same dish without sausage for $7. Each deal comes with bread or tortillas and a cup of coffee.

A few parts of Guatemalan breakfast differentiate it from your average breakfast dish. For one, the black beans are liquified until they reach a thin texture. The sour cream tastes a little more tart than the American version. The eggs should feel light and fluffy and the cheese should taste fresh.

Universal Bakery gets all of these important elements right. Each part comes together in the perfect combination. The creamy slab of cheese accentuates the rich flavor of the black beans. Dipping the eggs into the sour cream makes them even more savory. And the plate comes with enough black beans to scoop with a fork or pile onto a piece of desabrido.

PHOTO: Eva Recinos for SF Weekly

New Blog Documents Renovation of Old House on Bennington

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

Remember that sad house on Bennington Street that was offered for rent in November 2013 for the plutocratic sum of $9999 per month?

Unsurprisingly, no one took the then-landlord up on that offer. So a few weeks later, the home was put on the market. It was purchased by Neighbors Kiren, Caroline, and Jr. Neighbor Ravi, who are upsizing from a smaller home they currently occupy on the west side of Bernal Heights.

Neighbors Kiren, Caroline, and Jr. Neighbor Ravi are very excited about the new place, because, they say, “it has the space to keep us comfortable as our family grows [and] it keeps us in Bernal, which we adore.”

The new homeowners are well-aware of the structure’s, uh, “shortcomings,” and they entered into their purchase with eyes wide-open. Now, to make the tired old house feel more like home, they are preparing to undertake a full renovation, and blogging about it along the way:

Bernal Heights is a “special use district”, which means that it has its own zoning unique within San Francisco. It’s designed specifically to keep houses small – you can’t build over 35 feet high, over 45 feet from the front property line, rear yards must be proportionally larger, adding square footage requires adding extra parking spots, etc. So a major selling point for this house is that it already has good scale – we won’t need to expand it, which is onerous if not impossible in our neighborhood. The house was built in 1900, just before the earthquake. Unlike the Victorians of that era which San Francisco is famous for, this was a working class home, and what little adornment it had has been stripped away over the years. But that’s OK – for our taste, we find many victorians either oerly grand and imposing, or ornate and fussy. The house is built from tight-grained, old-growth lumber that you could only find a century ago. The wood is strong, resists rot, and is beautiful. But that’s about where the charm ends.

This house has been neglected for a long time. It is dark and dingy. The floors are so sloped, cover them with snow and you could go skiing on them. The fixtures are falling apart, there are frayed electrical wires popping up everywhere, water pools in the yard and garage, there’s termite damage in the front, the exterior stairs are crumbling, and the list goes on. The previous owner rented it out to seven people at a time – clumsily splitting the top and bottom floors, and installing an illegal kitchenette without any drainage or ventilation. The home achieved brief neighborhood fame (or infamy?) when the tenants left and the owner tried to rent it for a ludicrous sum (see our neighborhood blog, Why Oh Why Would This House Rent for $9995 a Month? for theories including it sitting on a diamond mine, or else including a vast rocket hanger and orbital launch facility.) Aside from the radically sloped floors, the house is structurally OK, but well outside of modern codes. The floor plan is dark and claustrophobic. No fixtures are worth saving.

But it’s in the neighborhood we love. And now it’s ours. So there’s nothing to do but to take it down to the studs, shore it up, and dream up something new to fill the empty shell.

Your Bernalwood editor read all this with great empathy and no small amount of deja vu, because our house was in a very similar state when we bought it in 2003. It was a mess, it smelled horrific, everything from the foundation to the sheetrock needed to be redone, and by the time we arrived there was no vintage “character” left to preserve. What followed was a top-to-bottom gut-and-remodel that retained just four elements of the original house: Three exterior walls, the wonderful Douglas Fir floors, the roof, and one tiny triangle of moulding on the stairway leading up to the bedrooms.

As proof, I submit as evidence this photo of my home, as it looked at the nadir of our renovation in July 2004, at the very moment when our lead contractor declared that he was withdrawing from the project to divorce his wife and launch a new career in marijuana cultivation:

On the bright side, it all turned out well, eventually, and now our Bernal house is a home we love.

Best of luck to the new homeowners on Bennington!

PHOTOS: Top, via Bernal Renovation blog. Bottom, by Telstar Logistics

Saturday: Gun Buyback to Get Surplus Weapons Off Our Streets

April 3, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Neighbor Sarah, Bernalwood’s official unofficial liaison to the San Francisco Police Department, brings news of the Ingleside gun-buyback event happening on Saturday:

Join us for a community-organized gun buyback this Saturday, April 5, 2014, 9am-2pm, at 2630 Bayshore Blvd. @ Sunnydale at the new Grocery Outlet store.

Receive up to $100 in cash for firearms, and up to $200 in cash for assault weapons. Totally anonymous; no questions asked. Bring guns in working condition. Drive up with guns in trunk of car.

Sponsored by Mayor Ed Lee; Supervisors Cohen, Campos, Avalos, Wiener, and Yee; Alive & Free; River of Life Church; SF Interfaith Council; CARECEN; SFPD; Gun by Gun.

Click for more information. Questions? Look right here.

Small Gesture of Parking Courtesy Rewarded with Generous Gift of Artisanal Canned Tuna

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 29 Comments

It was the kind of gesture that would come naturally to any proper Citizen of Bernalwood: The parking space in front of my home was available, and a blue Volkswagen station wagon was attempting to park there. But there was a glitch.

My car was parked right behind the Volkswagen, so to avoid bashing my front bumper, the Volkswagen driver left a big gap between their car and mine. Much appreciated, but as a result the nose of the Volkswagen crossed into the red-painted curb that marks the entrance to my next-door neighbor’s driveway. And she really doesn’t like that.

I gestured to the driver. “Hey,” I said. “You might want to back up a little bit. You can nudge my car, but my neighbor doesn’t like it when people park in the red zone.”

A great wave of relief flashed across the Volkswagen driver’s face, as if a deep source of anxiety had suddenly been erased. And so it was done: The Volkswagen backed up another foot or two, its rear bumper gently smooched the front of my car, and the red curb zone was cleared. Parking optimization complete!

I might have ended there, but the female passenger in the Volkswagen — a woman who, it must be said, bore a rather conspicuous resemblance to Carrie Brownstein from Portlandia — emerged from the vehicle and thanked me for helping them avoid a day-ruining parking ticket.

“Do you eat canned tuna?” she asked.

What?? Of course I eat canned tuna. Still, I advised her that I already have several cans of tuna on my pantry shelves, thankyouverymuch.

She was undaunted. “But this is very special canned tuna! We’re from Seattle, and we canned this tuna ourselves!” She pointed to the driver of the Volkswagen. “He caught it on his boat!”

Artisanal cans of tuna? With tuna from his boat? Right here in front of my house in Bernal Heights? Is this really happening? Have I become a character in a bourgeois urban parody?

She handed me two cans of tuna. “Eat it with the water in the can. It tastes best that way.”

The cute label identified it as Carol M Albacore tuna, containing tuna caught aboard the f/v Carol M:

This was also written on the label:

Carol M premium handpacked tuna was caught for you off the coast of Washington and Oregon. Cooked once in its own juices, it has a look and flavor you won’t soon forget. Wild Pacific Troll caught albacore is a highly sustainable fishery that complies with Marine Stewardship Council Certification, so enjoy this can with a guilt-free conscience. Captain Mike and our boat cat Florence also recommend you don’t drain the juice — it’s the best part! So from our boat to your table, enjoy!

Visualize:

I accepted the cans, and the Volkswagen remained in front of my house for another day.

Several days after that, I sampled the merchandise. The tuna was delicious and guilt-free — just as promised. And she was right: It tasted wonderful with the water in the can.

If You See This British Tourist in Bernal Heights, Please Make Sure He Is Having a Wonderful Time

April 1, 2014April 2, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

San Francisco is a place, and a state of mind. If you were lucky enough to have been born here, well, then lucky lucky you that everything lined up so neatly. There are also many San Franciscans who were born someplace else. They live here, and they know this City is where they belong. They were born San Franciscans — it just took them longer to get here.

Then there are those who were born San Franciscans, but don’t live here, and have never lived here, and may not ever live here. It’s a unique kind of romance to have with San Francisco, although it has all the pros and cons of a long-distance relationship.

Tony Quarrington is that kind of person. Tony lives in the UK, about 30 miles east of London. He’s thoroughly British, but Tony and his wife have fallen in love with San Francisco. (Well, of course.) They come here as often as they can — ten times, at last count — and Tony runs an entire blog about “An Englishman’s Love Affair with San Francisco.” Crazy street-cred, right there.

This spring, Tony and his wife have returned to San Francisco for the eleventh time. But this time, they’ve decided to stay in a rather delightful neighborhood they discovered during their last visit: Bernal Heights.

During our tenth visit to San Francisco last June, we took the short walk one morning from our Noe Valley apartment to Bernal Heights, ascending the hill from Precita Park, having lunch at the Progressive Grounds coffee house and buying provisions for our evening meal at the Good Life Grocery before taking the surprisingly short stroll back to 28th Street.

We enjoyed the superlative 360 degree views from the top of the hill and the ambiance of this “village within the city” so much that we vowed to base ourselves on our next trip in what has subsequently been dubbed the “hottest neighborhood in America”.

That trip is now imminent. After a week’s skiing in Tahoe, we arrive on the first day of April (St. Stupid’s Day) at our Bernal cottage where we will be staying for the next two weeks.

Having already spent so much time here, Tony intends to go native in mainland San Francisco:

Being in San Francisco has become such a familiar and habitual (in the best sense of the word) part of our lives, somewhere we spend more of our time than anywhere else, other than our permanent UK address.

What has happened is that OUR version of San Francisco has shifted both geographically and metaphorically from the waterfront to the neighborhood we have chosen to live in for a few short weeks (oh, that it could be more).

If all we want to do is “hang out” at the apartment in the morning, watch the news on KRON4 while catching up on household chores, before strolling out to a local café for lunch, followed by food shopping and a return to the apartment for a glass or two of wine on the outside private deck, then so be it. We might then have dinner in the apartment – or try out one of the local restaurants. Or we might decide to take a trip downtown and eat in Chinatown or North Beach.

We feel no pressure to conform to the expectations of others, to be perfect tourists (if that is not an oxymoron), although, inevitably, as the trip draws to a close, the realization will again dawn on us that we haven’t seen and done as much as we would have liked!

But what of our stay in Bernal?

It would be disingenuous to claim that we will be spending the majority of our time in the neighborhood. But we will be exploring the celebrated stairways and gardens, not to mention every square inch of the hill itself, and patronizing the cafés, restaurants and stores (but, sadly, not Badger Books). And we could not visit without seeking out bargains at the Alemany flea and farmers’ markets.

Okay, that right there is pretty much the backstory of EVERY San Franciscan who has ever ended up in Bernal Heights. All of us, at some point, retreated from the waterfront to settle in to the high-altitude rhythms of Bernal Hill. Which is to say, all of us, at some point in our ancestral history, arrived here as mere visitors. Unless you’re Ohlone, in which case, yes, you were totally here all along.

So… if at some point in the next two weeks you encounter a British gentleman floating through Bernal Heights with a big happy grin on his face, please do smile back, and share some local wisdom or a secret or two. He doesn’t live here, but he may be a terrific neighbor — someday.

New Mural, Very Hot Pink, Now Complete on Helipad House

April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 66 Comments

The paint is dry and the scaffolding has come down. And now, the new mural is complete on the facade of the Helipad House at the tippy-top of Folsom Street just below Bernal Hill.

As you no doubt recall, the mural was created and executed by Casey O’Connell, on behalf of Neighbor Scott and Neighbor Regina, who encouraged the artist to do her thing.

The result is very pink, which will be terrific news to all pink fans in Bernalwood. It’s also gritty and cute, all at the same time.

Plus, the cool lady with her finger in the shark’s eyeball has a cool tattoo that says… YOU:

Fortunately, the shark does not seem particularly upset by the presence of the finger in its eyeball:

And if you look closely, there’s a San Francisco skyline in the shark’s teeth:

What does it all mean???!!! What is the message??? What is it telling us???

As we contemplate such deeper questions, this much is certain: All of us now have a new piece of art to ponder, discuss, and debate. Some of us will cheer. Some of us will not. But all of us will say: Hot pink!

PS: In case you missed it during brunch, Neighbor Scott and Regina’s Helipad House also appeared in last weekend’s Sunday New York Times Magazine. In this way, hundreds of thousands of brunch-eaters across America and around the globe were introduced to Bernal’s own… Junior Neighbor Iris!

That’s it. Bernalwood is calling it, right here: New mural + NYT Mag shout-out = PEAK GLAMOR. This is our moment.

MURAL PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Alex Nieto Protest March Climbs Folsom to Bernal Hill

March 31, 2014April 1, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 71 Comments

Last Saturday afternoon, just as the rain began to fall, I heard the roar of a crowd approaching North Bernal from the Mission. A few minutes later, I ran up Precita to Folom Street, just in time to see a large group of demonstrators protesting the death of Bernal neighbor Alex Nieto, accompanied by sizable contingent of SFPD personnel in riot-control equipment.

The group had assembled and marched from the Mission Cultural Center, and it included many of the standard trappings of a Mission District street protest. Several of the protestors carried signs claiming affiliation with the Bay Area arm of ANSWER, the amorphous coalition of anti-imperialist, anti-racism activists. Others carried signs in English and Spanish decying “SFPD Enforced Gentrification.” Several of the faces in the crowd were familiar to anyone who attended last week’s community meeting about the Nieto shooting at Leonard Flynn School.

The crowd was large as it crossed Cesar Chavez, but the combined effects of the fearsome Folsom Street hill and the increasing downpour meant that by the time the protest reached the spot on the north side of Bernal Hill where Neighbor Alex Nieto was slain, the size of the protest group was somewhat diminished.

Which was perhaps a good thing.

Neighbor Alex’s death is an unspeakable tragedy, and Bernal Heights awaits a definitive report on the circumstances surrounding the officer-involved shooting that took his life. Justice must be pursued.

In the meantime, it has become clear that a great many people — and a great many on all sides of this terrible incident who are not from Bernal Heights — are eager to interpret Nieto’s death through the prisms of their longstanding agendas. That is quite understandable; if if not necessarily compatible with a proper inquiry into the facts surrounding Neighbor Alex’s death.

Yet more than anything else, a proper inquiry and credible answers are what Neighbor Alex, and his family, and Bernal Heights deserve.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Brazen Armed Robbery on Coleridge Captured in Security Camera Video

March 28, 2014March 28, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 109 Comments

It saddens us that crime is in our headlines right now. Yet crime is in our headlines.

A Bernal neighbor on Coleridge St. filed this report of a brazen armed robbery that took place Tuesday evening before sunset. The assault happened right across from Coleridge Neighbor’s house, which is equipped with a rather impressive security camera. The camera captured the entire thing.

Coleridge Neighbor captions the shocking security camera video (hosted via Dropbox; YouTube had problems with the format):

[On the evening of Tuesday, March 25], one of our new neighbors was mugged at gunpoint walking to his house. The victim is a new neighbor who just bought the house, so this was a horrible way to be introduced to the neighborhood. Please alert readers to stay vigilant

Ironically, we just had security cameras installed and caught the episode on video, which is now in the hands of the police. The video footage shows that at 19:07 (still daylight) two males with dark clothes and hoodies are walking down Coleridge towards Fair St. on the staircase side of the street. The victim was walking up the street on the side of the mini park. The two suspects crossed the street and one pulls out a gun, takes his bag, then the other punches him in the face, making him fall onto the stairs of the lavender building at 78 Coleridge. The robbers then ran down towards Fair St.

It is not clear if there was a getaway vehicle, but the footage also shows an old red Volvo station wagon go by directly after the attack. It all took place in under a minute, but it was very aggressive and shocking to watch. The victim was shaken, but not in need of a hospital.

I am very concerned about it and am questioning how dangerous it is to walk on our street. Luckily we have the security cameras (that I highly recommend others get ASAP), but that does not make me feel better about what happened. My heart goes out to the man and his young family. I wish I could still believe that crime like that did not happen near me.

Here is a detail of the two assailants as they entered the frame, from the video:

Finally, here’s the official summary of the incident from the SFPD Ingleside Station Newsletter:

7:00pm Unit Blk Coleridge Robbery
A victim walking home from Valencia Street was confronted by two suspects who cornered and surrounded him on the unit block of Coleridge Street. One of the suspects came up in front of him and pointed a Silver gun, while his accomplice stood behind the victim. The suspect with the gun then said, “Give me all your stuff”. The victim told Officers Suguitan and Vainshtok that when he saw the gun he feared for his life and handed over his wallet, money, credit cards, cell phone and laptop computer. Once he did that the suspect standing at the rear hit the victim in the face causing him to fall to the ground. A White four door sedan suddenly drove up and picked up the suspects and fled the area at a high rate of speed, last seen headed northbound on Coleridge Street. A witness who happened to be looking out her patio door saw the robbery and was able to provide the officers with further information. Report Number: 140252169

Bernal Neighbor Creates Absurdly Cool Outdoor Adventure Program for Little Kids

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 5 Comments

Neighbor Regina recently enrolled her kid in Wonderbugs, and she now thinks it may be the the coolest outdoor education adventure camp for toddlers and preschoolers in the universe.

The program was created by Hilary Blum, another Bernal neighbor, so Regina wrote Bernalwood to gush about it:

Neighbor Hillary has a seriously glamorous job.

She runs a nature program called Wonderbugs that helps kids, preschoolers and toddlers explore the wonders of San Francisco city parks. The group gathers in various parks, depending on the nature theme of the day, to do a nature hunt, art project, story time and song. Special guests include wild Blue Herons and Banana Slugs that just happen to show up when Hillary references them.

The educational/ scientific content is outstanding. I’ve even seen parents’ minds blown over some of her nature facts (Fact: Did you know the little red spot on seagulls’ beaks is the spot chicks peck to get the parent to regurgitate their food?!). Then, when you think Hillary can’t get any cooler with her scientific teaching, she whips out a ukulele and plays an original song about ducks.

One day I ran into her on Cortland and, after getting over being star-struck, I finally got the nerve to ask her about her background and how she came to create Wonderbugs. Turns out, it started on Bernal Hill.

Before moving to Bernal, Hillary studied education and anthropology at UC Santa Cruz, spending a year in the Middle East “on a dig” and teaching at an outdoor school in northern Israel. She was hooked on outdoor education and returned to work at an environmental education nonprofit in Palo Alto for almost seven years.

Hillary moved to Bernal to start her family and, after having her first daughter, she started a mini Bernal nature club with hikes on the hill. Wonderbugs was launched in 2008.

Today Wonderbugs offers Summer classes (starting in May!) and a School Science Adventures program that brings hands-on ecology and science programs to preschool and kindergarten classrooms. They also offer nature discovery field trips to school groups.

At the end of every program, the kids gather in a circle and put their hands in the middle. What follows is the official Wonderbugs nature pledge. Repeat it after me, Bernalwood:

I promise (your turn)

To learn from (say it!)

And to take care of (that’s right)

(really loud) Nature!

PHOTO: via Wonderbugs

Dramatic Car Fire Awakens Eugenia Neighbors

March 26, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

Neighbor Tucker witnessed a rather spectacular spectacle early this morning:

Well that was crazy. A car was on fire at the corner of Eugenia and Coleridge this morning. The SFFD arrived in no time, and had the fire out almost immediately. Great outcome for everyone but the car!

PHOTO: Neighbor Tucker

SFPD Community Meeting: Alejandro Nieto’s Taser Looked Like a Handgun

March 25, 2014March 26, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 98 Comments

During tonight’s tense community meeting at Leonard Flynn Elementary School, San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr released new details about Friday night’s officer-involved shooting death of Bernal Neighbor Alejandro Nieto.

Here’s the coverage from the Examiner:

Alejandro Nieto was shot and killed by police Friday night after being asked to show his hands but instead drawing a Taser that was mistaken for a gun, Police Chief Greg Suhr told a volatile crowd Tuesday night.
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“He did not have a gun, he had a Taser just like this,” said Suhr, pointing to a photo of a black-and-yellow Taser beside him in a packed hall at Leonard Flynn Elementary School.

Amid shouts of “I hope you die, [cops]” from the crowd, Suhr gave a quick but detailed retelling of Nieto’s death, explaining first that the 28-year-old was not legally allowed to own a gun because of mental health issues.

Suhr began by reading the log of the 911 caller reporting a man with a black handgun on his hip in Bernal Heights Park at 7:11 p.m. Friday.

Soon afterward, police arrived and, from a distance of about 75 feet, located Nieto, a San Francisco resident.

“They asked him to show his hands,” Suhr said. Instead, Nieto told police to show their hands and pointed at them. When officers saw a red laser light emanating from what was later identified as a Taser, Suhr said, they thought a gun was pointing at them and opened fire in “defense of their own lives.”

When some in the crowd wondered aloud why Nieto had reportedly been hit 14 times, Suhr responded by saying, “We do not know at this point in time how many times Mr. Nieto was hit.”

Suhr also displayed the image of the weapons shown above. The taser recovered from Alejandro Nieto is on the left. On the right is a handgun, shown for comparison.

Your Bernalwood editor was in attendance at the meeting, and I can confirm that those are the facts as presented by SFPD Chief Suhr. You may make of them what you will.

After Suhr’s presentation, members of the public were invited to address the audience. There was grieving for Alejandro Nieto — and other victims of officer-involved shootings. There were questions raised about police training, and the proportional use of force. There were questions raised about the racial underpinnings of police conduct. There were comments that identified gentrification and real estate development as the animating force behind the violence that took Neighbor Alejandro Nieto’s life. You may also make of that what you will.

None of it, however, will undo this tragedy or bring Alejandro Nieto back to the neighborhood and the community he loved.

UPDATE: Vivian Ho from the Chronicle has a very thorough write-up about the meeting last night and the questions that hover over the investigation into what happened on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Bernalwood readers are conducting a robust and constructive discussion of the incident and its aftermath in the comments.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Grief, Anger at Memorial Vigil for Alejandro Nieto on Bernal Hill

March 25, 2014March 25, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 36 Comments

There is still much to learn about what happened to Neighbor Alejandro Nieto, the 28 year-old man who was shot and killed by SFPD officers on Bernal Hill Friday night. But there are some things we already know: Alejandro’s death was a tragedy, and the grief his family and friends feel right now runs very deep.

These photos were taken yesterday during the memorial vigil for Neighbor Alejandro that took place on the spot where he died. (You can read more about the vigil at MissionLocal, The Examiner and ABC7)

According to some neighbors who attended, the incident has also unleashed a wave of anger directed not just at the circumstances surrounding Alejandro’s death, and the SFPD, but also at the socio-economic changes taking place in Bernal Heights, and an entire generation of new Bernal neighbors who have moved here in recent years.

This is a raw and sensitive moment. It is also an opportunity for us to properly honor the memory of Neighbor Alejandro Nieto by coming together to support our neighbors who are in pain, to ensure that all the facts surrounding this incident are revealed, and to strengthen the bonds that unite us as a neighborhood.

Finally, a reminder: The SFPD “Town Hall” meeting about this incident happens tonight at 6 pm at Leonard Flynn School on Cesar Chavez and Harrison, near Precita Park.

VIGIL PHOTOS: Courtesy of a Bernal neighbor

UPDATED: Man Killed During SFPD Confrontation on Bernal Hill Identified; Community Meeting Announced

March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 / Todd_Lappin / 46 Comments

The man killed on Bernal Hill during a confrontation with the SFPD on Friday has been identified as Alejandro Nieto, 28, of San Francisco.

Vivian Ho at the SF Chronicle reports:

Police officials said the officers were investigating reports of a man with a gun in Bernal Heights Park when they encountered Nieto on a paved pedestrian path on the north slope of the park.

Nieto appeared to draw a weapon, and at least two officers began firing at him, said police Deputy Chief Lyn Tomioka. Some witnesses and friends of Nieto believe he had a stun gun.

Tomioka said she didn’t know if Nieto had exchanged fire with the officers, but said a weapon was discovered close to his body. Police have not said what the weapon was.

Residents and park goers reported seeing a man, possibly with a holstered weapon, behaving strangely on the hill just prior to the shooting.

One witness, Isaac McGowan, said his wife may have seen the man as she ran up the hill just before the shooting.

“Two guys walking toward her warned her that he was wearing a holstered gun,” McGowan said. “She looked again and he was air boxing. She ran down the hill away from him and warned everyone walking up.”

Another witness, who declined to give his name, said he was walking his dog in the park just after 7 p.m. when the dog came upon a man eating potato chips. The dog got excited, scaring the man, who jumped up on a bench and stared acting erratically.

According to the witness, the man pulled out a pistol-type stun gun and pointed it at the dog, leading the witness to call the dog back and yell at the man.

The man then stated “flexing,” yelling profanities and threatening him, the witness said. The witness said he quickly left the area, went home and called police.

Possessing Tasers and other stun guns is legal in California, with the exception of convicted felons, drug addicts and people who have misused the devices in the past.

Friends of Nieto say he had experience with stun guns but did not own handgun.

Nieto, known as Alex to his friends, was known as a nonviolent and compassionate young man who worked to better his community, whether through volunteer work or through his Buddhism, said his friend Jonathan Bonato, 53.

Bonato met Nieto in 2008, and worked with him and the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International on setting up the Victory Over Violence exhibit in the Bayview neighborhood.

Nieto once worked at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, fighting for youth and against social injustice in the area where he spent much of his life, Bonato said.

“He was an encouragement and inspiration to me,” Bonato said. “I just never in my wildest imagination connected the story on Friday with Alex.”

Bonato said Nieto also held a security job for some time. Nieto also studied criminal justice at City College.

Bonato said the officers’ actions that night have Nieto’s friends “definitely concerned.” They will be holding a vigil at the spot where he died at 5 p.m. Monday night.

UPDATE: Captain Tim Falvey from Ingleside Station has accounted plans to hold a community meeting tomorrow, Tuesday evening, to discuss the incident:

The will be a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School, 3125 Cesar Chavez. The meeting will be to discuss the officer involved shooting of Friday, March 21, 2014 at Bernal Heights Park.

IMAGE: KTVU screen grab, Friday night.

Bernalwood

Broadcasting from glamorous Bernal Heights, San Francisco (Elev. 443 ft.)

Author: Todd_Lappin