Upper Haight crime: Suspicious park fires, attack with skateboard, aggravated assault with chemicals

Upper Haight crime: Suspicious park fires, attack with skateboard, aggravated assault with chemicalsPhoto: Camden Avery/Hoodline
Camden Avery
Published on November 16, 2018

Here's the latest on crime and mayhem in the Upper Haight in the past two weeks. All incidents are taken from SFPD's daily crime reports, unless otherwise noted.

Car break-ins still plague Haight, Golden Gate Park

Despite a reported citywide 14 percent reduction in car break-ins this year, more than half of the reported incidents in SFPD's Park District over the past two weeks were auto burglaries, most of them concentrated in the eastern end of Golden Gate Park and at Twin Peaks.

Park Station reiterated in a recent newsletter the importance of removing all valuable items from cars before parking them on the street. Thieves with an eye on stealing garage door openers and then breaking into adjacent homes continue to be a major concern.

Suspicious fires in Golden Gate Park 

The San Francisco Fire Department is asking the public to provide information about a rash of six suspicious fires set in the western end of Golden Gate Park on November 9. The fires, which took place in the area around the park's angling pond and polo field, damaged areas ranging from 200 square feet to an acre. No people or structures were harmed.

The fires were preceded by another blaze in the park: a small brush fire behind the John McLaren Memorial Rhododendron Dell, which occurred on October 24. The two fires aren't being treated as related, nor is the earlier fire being treated as suspicious, but SFPD and park rangers are maintaining a continued and increased presence in the park.

Late-night hot prowl burglary

Around 3 a.m. on November 8, a man awoke in his home on the 600 block of Broderick Street and realized someone was inside. The suspect stole multiple bicycles and an electric scooter from the garage and was not apprehended.

Non-life threatening group attack with skateboard

Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on November 2, on Ashbury Street near Haight, four 25-year-old suspects attacked a 27-year-old man with a skateboard and fled the scene. No arrest was made, and the victim was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Aggravated assault on a police officer

At 1:15 p.m. on October 29, a "known subject" was apprehended at 1535 Haight St. for committing theft and assaulting a police officer with force. Cited and released on scene, the suspect was sent to UCSF hospital, "due to extreme agitation."

Assault with caustic chemical

Shortly before 11 p.m. on October 23, an unknown suspect on Oak Street committed assault with an unidentified caustic substance. No arrest was made.


Park Station hosts monthly community meetings every second Tuesday of the month, but they're being suspended for the holidays. The next meeting will be on February 12.