SFPD searching for suspect who punched a man and scrawled a homophobic slur in the Castro
SFPD search for vandal who assaulted a man in the Castro District
On Saturday someone scrawled a hateful message on the side of their business and when a neighbor tried to stop him the suspect punched him.
SAN FRANCISCO - Police are looking for whoever scrawled a homophobic slur on the wall of a business in San Francisco's Castro District, then punched a man in the face before crashing into a parked car and speeding away.
This whole series of events unfolded Saturday evening. The slur has now been painted over.
Castro District hit with a heinous crime
What we know:
Chartreuse by Roje is known in San Francisco's Castro District for creating beauty with their flower arrangements and art displays, but the business was the target of an ugly homophobic attack.
On Saturday, Jeff Dumlao noticed a distinctive white Cadillac Escalade parked in front of his business that seemed to be out of place, with the words "Onward Christian soldiers Charlie Kirk rest in power" on the rear of the window. "Then that's when I saw the gentleman in the driver's seat and a woman in the passenger seat," Dumlao said. "I didn't make any eye contact, but it was enough for me to know, OK, there's someone in there."
Dumlao said he and his husband closed up shop at around 5 p.m., not wanting to engage with the couple or escalate the situation. Later, he received a call that the police were at his building, and that someone had scrawled the slur outside his business. "My heart was like, 'Oh my God, what's going on?'" Dumlao asked. "Two weeks before Pride month. Why is this happening? Why is this happening in the Castro? Now we saw the message that says f****t equals gas chamber."
The vandal may have been angry after someone egged his SUV.
Man assaulted
Local perspective:
A man, who only gave the name Justin, who lives in the nearby building, saw the man spray-painting and confronted him, repeating to him that it was illegal to vandalize his home and to leave.
"He became really agitated. I said the same thing to him over and over again," said Justin. "Other people sort of came to my defense saying," This is this guy's house. You spray-painted it with this horrible inflammatory language."
Justin said the man became enraged and attacked him. Justin said, "He began to get quite worked up, and then he punched me."
Witnesses say the suspect then took off, struck a parked and then sped away.
Targeting LGBTQ+ communities
Rafael Mandelman, the supervisor for the area, said police are investigating, and said there's no place for hate in San Francisco.
"This is not the first time this has happened. It probably won't be the last," Supervisor Mandelman said. "People are looking to bash gays. They look for gay neighborhoods, they come to the gay neighborhoods, and we see bad things happening. It's horrible, and the police are investigating."
At this time, it's not clear if these incidents are being investigated as hate crimes.
The Source: This story was written based on information gathered from witnesses and KTVU staff reporting.
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