SAN FRANCISCO —Members of the San Francisco Police Department were recently commended publicly for their actions that led to the arrests of three suspects wanted for robbing a resident in the Tenderloin District.
The arrests concluded a wild night for officers on August 19 that began around 11:36pm when a 42-year-old male identified only as “Patrik G” was walking westbound on the 300 block of Turk Street. After stopping to make a phone call, the man was hassled by four suspects, one of whom shoved the victim to the ground. The suspects demanded the phone from the victim even though he had lost it after falling to the ground.
Two Tenderloin Station officers who were driving up Turk Street witnessed the robbery in progress and stopped to approach the four individuals on foot. As the officers closed in, the subjects spotted them and took off running. While two subjects ran westbound on Turk Street, the other two fled eastbound.
After calling for assistance, the officers gave chase. Upon reaching the corner of Turk and Hyde Street, they found the first suspect, a 17-year old male from Antioch climb over a gate into a locked parking lot. The second suspect, Lawrence Phipps, 18 also of Antioch, was unable to climb over the fence. While Phipps initially ignored commands to surrender and lay down on the ground, he eventually complied and was taken into custody. After additional officers arrived in the area to assist in the search, the first suspect was found in the parking lot hiding under a parked van and was taken into custody. The third suspect, 20-year-old Malcom Ireland of Oakley was apprehended at McAllister and Market Street. Police were unable to locate the fourth suspect.
The victim identified all three suspects as being involved in the robbery. The victim’s cell phone was recovered from one of the suspects. The 17-year-old juvenile suspect was booked at the Juvenile Justice Center while Phipps and Ireland were booked into the San Francisco County Jail. All three men have been charged with robbery, conspiracy and resisting/delaying a peace officer. Booking photos of the suspects have not been released due to pending identification matters.
In a statement, SFPD Chief Greg Suhr commended his officers for their roles in the arrests.
“This arrest is just one example of the great work being done by San Francisco Police officers every day,” said Chief Greg Suhr. “Their quick and coordinated actions prevented serious injury to the victim and brought about the arrest of three robbery suspects.”
By Damian Kelly
