San Francisco officials announce arrest in Bob Lee murder
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Police Chief Bill Scott, and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announce Nima Momeni's arrest in the stabbing of tech titan Bob Lee. (KTVU)
Violent crime in San Francisco continues to climb in 2023, led by steadily increasing robberies and after homicides jumped during each of the first three months of the year, city police statistics show.
Homicides were up by 83%, with 11 in 2023 compared to six last year through March 31, the most recent full-month data available.
Through the first three weeks of April, the killings have begun leveling off, with 14 total through April 23 compared to 15 last year. In February, homicides had climbed 33%, after they jumped 67% in January.
Overall, violent crime is up 4%, and robberies, a bellwether indicator of public safety, rose by 11% in January, 18% in February and 15% in March. Through the April 23 window, they are up by 11.4% overall.
SAN FRANCISCO DA SLAMS ELON MUSK DURING ARREST ANNOUNCEMENT IN CASH APP FOUNDER MURDER
Nima Momeni, right, stands up to exit the courtroom after an appearance at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Momeni has been charged with murder in the death of tech entrepreneur Bob Lee, left. (Bob Lee/Facebook, AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
"City Hall officials…are trying to paint too-rosy a picture of San Francisco by cherry-picking the data as if only homicides matter, and yet we here know the truth and feel the sentiment on a daily basis," said Richie Greenberg, an activist and commentator who spearheaded the recall effort against former District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
In a news briefing earlier this month following the arrest of Bay Area tech entrepreneur Nima Momeni, 38, in the stabbing murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, 43, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins sought to reassure the public about safety in the city. She came into office after voters ousted the far-left Boudin.
A woman appears to be defecating in a bus shelter on the streets of San Francisco on Friday, April 14, 2023. Homelessness and crime continue to plague the city’s Tenderloin District. (Flight Risk for Fox News Digital)
FORMER SAN FRANCISCO FIRE COMMISSIONER SLASHED AND BEATEN WITH PIPE DAYS AFTER BOB LEE STABBING
"It’s not just a lack of feeling safe from being killed, it’s being injured, our property taken at gunpoint, our cars being broken in to anywhere in town, our stores and pharmacies looted and tourists targeted," Greenberg told Fox News Digital.
The violence comes in the wake of a shocking home invasion hammer attack on the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco mansion last fall and as the city reels from Lee's murder in early March and a pipe assault on a former fire commissioner. Portions of all three incidents were caught on video.
WATCH: San Francisco videos show pipe attack on former official who says charges will be dropped
"Since taking office last July, I've worked tirelessly to ensure that San Franciscans not only feel safer, but actually are safer," she said. "Even one murder is too many, regardless of the facts."
However, she also veered off-topic and blasted Tesla founder Elon Musk for a tweet suggesting crime was out of control.
People inhabit encampments on the streets of San Francisco on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Homelessness and crime continue to plague the city’s Mission District. (Flight Risk for Fox News Digital)
"Many people I know have been severely assaulted," Musk wrote in response to a tweet about Lee's murder. "Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately."
Jenkins singled out Musk's tweet as "reckless and irresponsible."
"I've dedicated the last eight years of my career to holding some of our city's most violent offenders accountable," she said. "And as your district attorney, I promise that my office will continue the fight to enhance public safety and to hold Mr. Lee's killer, as we do all others, accountable."
WATCH: San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins addresses public safety concerns
A day after Lee's murder in the ritzy Rincon Hill neighborhood, a former city official, Don Carmignani, 53, was hospitalized after a pipe attack in the Marina District.
Police quickly arrested a 24-year-old homeless man, Garret Doty, on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and battery causing serious injury.
This still image taken from video released by lawyers for Don Carmigani, left, shows a man swinging a metal object at the former San Francisco fire commissioner outside a gas station in the city's Marina District in early April. Carmignani was hospitalized with a fractured skull, and a homeless 24-year-old was arrested. (Colla & Ray LLP)
However, Carmignani's lawyers earlier this week claimed they were told the DA's office plans to drop charges against Doty, deeming the brutal attack, which fractured Carmignani's skull and was captured on video, came in self-defense.
Doty appeared in court Wednesday morning – and the charges were not dropped. He is scheduled to return to court Thursday at 9 a.m.
A man is doubled-over in a doorway in San Francisco on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Homelessness and crime continue to plague the city’s Tenderloin District. (Flight Risk for Fox News Digital)
In a statement released on Twitter Wednesday evening, Jenkins' office blamed the delay on Carmignani, saying he had avoided requests for an interview and that prosecutors wanted him present for the preliminary hearing "so we can move forward with holding Doty accountable for this violent attack."
If he did not show up at Thursday's hearing, the statement warned, Doty would be released without bail under state law,
SAN FRANCISCO CRIME PROBLEM RUNS DEEPER THAN ROSY STATISTICS FROM CITY, EXPERT SAYS
A woman walks past flowers left outside an apartment building where Cash App founder Bob Lee was fatally stabbed in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
However, Jenkins' office has not responded to inquiries about the Doty case from Fox News Digital. Carmignani's attorneys did not respond to a request for comment either.
In a statement Wednesday evening, the city's Public Defender's Office, which is representing the suspect, said additional surveillance video of the altercation shows Carmignani approaching Doty with a can of pepper spray before the violence.
Don Carmignani says this image shows his suspected attackers camped out in front of his mother's house on the morning of his assault. (Courtesy of Don Carmignani)
"A third party witness told police that she heard Carmignani threaten to stab and kill Doty if he did not leave the area," said Jessie Seyfer, a defense spokesperson. "Doty responded to Mr. Carmignani in self-defense."
San Francisco police stats through March 2023 (Mobile users go here)
Carmignani previously told Fox News Digital that a group of "known criminals" who are homeless set up an encampment outside his mother's front door in San Francisco's Marina District. He said his mother called the police, and so did he. However, the group continued to bother his mother and girlfriend throughout the day while allegedly using drugs in public and harassing passersby.
Carmignani arrived that evening and asked them to leave, he said. Then a fight broke out.
WATCH: Paul Pelosi attack seen on police bodycam footage
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The ensuing altercation was captured on video by surveillance cameras and bystanders with cellphones.
Carmignani is struck in the head and face multiple times, even after he tries running away and has his back to the attacker – with the final blow from behind puncturing his skull, according to his lawyers.
Fox News' Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
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