I awoke at 7:20 on Sunday morning to the wail of police sirens and the buzz of a small plane over my bedroom doing what sounded like aerobatics. The plane was a California Highway Patrol Cessna flying in a circular observation pattern over northwest Bernal. I then took a peek down Cesar Chavez, just in time to watch four CHP cars go racing past, followed closely by a few SFPD cruisers.

Meanwhile, Reader Matt got a close up look at the action — an apparent manhunt. He writes:

I live on Coleridge near Virginia. My wife had to go to the airport this morning and a cab was scheduled for 7:20. Well, at 7:20 we heard a honk and looked outside. On top of all the weirdness of the morning (sirens, helicopters) we saw six highway patrol cars pulled up out front and 10-14 patrolmen walking around POINTING automatic weapons – shotguns, rifles, and pistols.

My wife opened the door to look for the cab and a cop asked her if she’d seen a man in a yellow shirt. Then four of them went to investigate the small children’s park across the street. One of them stalked a recycling bin like it was a major threat. Several checked under cars and pointed their guns down the small cracks between houses.

One patrolmen with a pistol aimed his gun inside the slide. Wow.

Whoever they were looking for is a bad bad man.

I took a few pics out the window, but I didn’t want to be seen aiming anything at these guys so they’re not the best pics of all-time.

Everybody left about twenty minutes later and my wife made the flight (I drove her – let’s hear it for Bernalwood SFO access!) – but then the cab company called to a) apologize for not showing up and b) explain that the cab driver was assaulted at Coleridge and Virginia by the suspect. Which is probably the honk we heard.

Yikes. No news about this in the mainstream press. Anyone else know more details?

UPDATE:

Readed Unfed was following along at home and explains:

I heard the sirens too so I switched on my police scanner. It turns out the CHP was chasing a guy on 101, apparently the person was exceeding 100MPH. He pulled off the freeway and raced up Bernal Hill and then took off on foot towards Mission St. On Mission he hailed a cab and took it for a little ways (I forget the destination address) and was eventually apprehended. I’m not sure how the cops figured out where the bad guy was, but they were in touch with the cab driver; he was taking them to a location where the bad guy may have dropped something and was giving them access to the cab’s video.

Interestingly, there were so many Ingleside and Mission cops involved that the dispatcher was warning of backed up calls. At one point she said there were seven calls waiting.

PHOTOS: CHP Airplane, Telstar Logistics. Manhunt, by Reader Matt.

In the wake of the recent double homicide at the Holly Courts housing project, reader Sarah attended the SFPD Ingleside Station Community Meeting that was held on Tuesday evening. She took some (typically) excellent notes, which we’re republishing here with permission:

Much of the discussionwas related to the Saturday shootings and double homicide at Holly Court. The captain said he could not discuss some elements of the investigation, per department policy, but he did give some information that I had not seen in the press coverage of the incident.

There was a birthday party/barbecue during the day on Saturday inside Holly Court. At around 2pm, there was some kind of “skirmish” between different groups. The police were called; officers responded and detained two people. Later in the evening, the two groups encountered each other again, and that’s when three people were shot, two of whom died. There were three separate crime scenes. 17 people were detained, and one was booked. The incident was so large that officers outside the district had to be called in.

Residents had been concerned in advance of the party and that the person throwing the party was not a resident. The Housing Authority (which is federal, not state/local, and is in charge of the housing projects) is inconsistent at best with respect to enforcing evictions. Under the HUD Code, residents are supposed to be evicted immediately if they commit a crime or their family members commit crimes. The Housing Authority seems not to be consistently enforcing the latter element of the code – ie, that residents should be evicted if their family members or other people they’ve invited to their residence commit crimes. That seems to be very relevant in the case of the Holly Court homicides.

There was a question about the widespread possession of guns in the community and what remedies (police, legal, community) could be employed to combat it. This, in turn, led to a more general discussion of how people are charged and sentenced for crimes in the current environment. One point was that gun possession charges (for example, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit) has very different consequences depending upon the context – someone with no criminal record will get a citation, whereas a convicted felon will be charged with another felony. Another point was that because California prisons are extremely overcrowded these days, anyone who commits a non-violent crime (such as theft, even if the person is responsible for many, many car thefts, break-ins, etc) is very unlikely to serve any prison time. A representative from the DA’s office was in attendance and said that the SF DA seeks the maximum penalty for felony gun-possession cases, which is 90 days in county jail.

I asked about the Holly Park shooting that occurred approximately eight weeks ago when a man was shot in his car around 6:20pm. The captain said the victim is being uncooperative, presumably because he knows the person who shot him.

Other crimes in the district were discussed. Car break-ins and thefts continue to be a problem, especially in Glen Park, Noe Valley, Miraloma Park, and Precita Park. Burglaries are down for the year, and the captain cited vigilant neighbors as being especially helpful in catching burglaries in process. He said that if you see something suspicious, call 553-0123. If it’s a crime in progress, even if it’s not a violent crime, call 911. The most stolen cars continue to be Hondas, Toyotas, Acuras, and Nissans more than 10 years old.

Phone snatching continues to be a problem. As I mentioned in the last summary, the captain emphasized that holding your phone is like waving $200 at a thief, since that’s what they can sell it for. You’re also obviously distracted and an easier mark. The police recently held a surveillance operation at the Balboa Park BART station, where lots of thefts were occurring, and that ring appears to have moved over to the Taraval district now (point being, the theft rings adapt).

The fire battalion chief of the Ocean district was in attendance and warned people to clean out their dryer vents (ie, the tube that goes from the dryer to the outside of your house) since lint is extremely flammable. They’ve had several fires caused by this recently. He said to clean it every one or two months, and there is something you can buy to do this at hardware stores.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics