SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, April 9, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office disclosed that San Francisco Deputy Sheriff Jonathan Espiritu, 49, was charged with domestic violence and multiple felonies in connection to incidents involving a woman with whom he had a previous dating relationship.
Espiritu was arraigned on April 8, 2024, and pleaded not guilty to each charge and denied all allegations. He is charged with two counts of domestic violence (PC 273.5(a)), one count of assault likely to cause great bodily injury (PC 245(a)(4)), two counts of false imprisonment (PC 236), one count of stalking (PC 646.9(a)), one count of domestic battery (PC 243(e)(1)), one count of dissuading a witness (PC 136.1(b)(1)), one count of unlawful use of an electronic tracking device (PC 637.7(a)) and one count of obstruction of use of wireless device to summon assistance (PC 591.5).
The SFDA’s Office reported in a press release that according to court records, the defendant and the victim had an “on and off” dating relationship which the victim tried to end after he allegedly became increasingly possessive of the victim. Allegedly, on August 14, 2023, Espiritu strangled the victim in her own home when she tried to end the relationship. On December 8, 2023, the defendant is alleged to have attacked the victim at her workplace.
On March 7, 2024, Espiritu is alleged to have slapped the victim in a car and threatened to kill himself if she reported him to law enforcement. On April 3, 2024, the victim reported the abuse after she found a tracking device on her vehicle. The San Francisco Police Department detained and arrested Espiritu in close proximity to where the victim was filing the report.
He is currently in custody. His next court date is April 19, 2024 in Department 12 at the Hall of Justice for the preliminary hearing in this matter. The District Attorney’s Office moved to detain him pending trial because of the public safety risk he poses. The court granted the motion to detain without prejudice and set no bail for the defendant. The court will hear further arguments on the motion to detain at a future hearing.
The SFPD is still investigating the case. Anyone with details is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD.
