Oakland teen, 2 juveniles arrested in brutal assault of 70-year-old Asian American woman
SAN FRANCISCO -- An Oakland 18-year-old and two juveniles aged 13 and 11 years old have been arrested following the brutal assault and robbery of a 70-year-old Asian American woman in San Francisco.
A 14-year-old suspect remained at large and has an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
According to San Francisco police, the teen -- Oakland resident Darryl Moore -- has been charged with robbery, elder abuse, burglary, false imprisonment and conspiracy.
The 14 and 13-year-old suspects were facing the same charges; however, the 11-year-old could not be charged in the case because of his age. He was transferred to the custody of the Alameda County Assessment Center.
Investigators said officers responded to calls of the assault and robbery inside the lobby of a building in the 100 block of Francisco Street at approximately 5:02 p.m. on July 31.
When officers arrived, the victim told them that she was standing in front of a building when she was approached by four suspects who began talking to her.
Due to a language barrier, the victim did not know what the suspects were saying. When the victim turned to enter the lobby of the building, the suspects were able to gain access to the building and followed her in.
While inside the building, the suspects physically attacked the woman -- beating and kicking her in the head before stealing the 70-year-old's property and fleeing the scene. The woman was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
During the investigation, officers were able to identify Moore and the three juveniles as suspects. On August 10, Milpitas police officers contacted Moore, the 13-year-old, and the 11-year-old suspects on an unrelated criminal matter and arrested them.
Moore was booked at Santa Clara County Jail on the warrant. The 13-year-old suspect was booked on unrelated charges at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall and was being transferred to the custody of Alameda County, who will book him on the warrant in the Milpitas case.
The 14-year-old suspect has not yet been located and has an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
While arrests have been made, this remains an open and active investigation.
"I think everybody standing here is probably shocked that we've got young children involved in these types of vicious assaults," San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday during a briefing with officials from the city, police department and local Asian community organizations.
Jenkins and San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott declined to state either way whether the attack would be prosecuted as a hate crime.
Jenkins noted hate crime charges often require proof of the attacker or attackers uttering a slur or other bigoted language or having a history of public making hate-filled statements such as on social media.
The building's security camera footage showing the attack, which has been published online, does not include sound.
"We will base our decisions off of what evidence is in front of us and we will continue to pursue other avenues of investigation to see what else we can find," Jenkins said.
Only Moore is expected to be tried as an adult while the two teenagers will proceed through the juvenile detention system, according to Jenkins.
"We have to do better as a society," Scott said. "The criminal justice system can do what it can do, but this is as much of a community issue as anything else. And as a community, we got to do better."
Anyone with information 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. You may remain anonymous. SFPD Case# 220508959
