Witness To San Francisco Assault Killed After Recording Suspect On Cellphone
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A man has been charged with murder and attempted murder after being arrested on suspicion of stabbing two people after they both tried to call the police on him Wednesday in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood.
Arthur Finch, 49, made his first appearance in court Friday afternoon in connection with the stabbings, which injured a 50-year-old man and killed 61-year-old Veronica Soliz.
In addition to murder and attempted murder, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office has also charged Finch with torture with the use of a deadly weapon, dissuading a witness with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, domestic violence and assault with force, among other charges.
Finch did not enter a plea Friday and his arraignment was continued to Monday morning.
According to prosecutors, Finch is on parole for a 2009 rape conviction and if convicted on the new charges, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Court documents revealed that the Wednesday killing unfolded just before noon in the 400 block of Ellis Street, outside of the nonprofit organization Mercy Housing.
Finch allegedly pushed his girlfriend against a wall and produced a knife.
The victim then allegedly told a witness, the organization's janitor, to call police.
Upon seeing the janitor pull out his phone, Finch allegedly chased him into the middle of the intersection of Ellis and Leavenworth streets and stabbed him.
After witnessing the attacks, a woman later identified as Soliz then called 911 and yelled at Finch to stop. Finch allegedly walked toward his girlfriend's car in an attempt to flee and Soliz took a picture of the vehicle, according to court documents.
Finch then allegedly yelled at Soliz, "Stop filming me," and began chasing her.
At this point, Soliz was on the phone with a 911 operator and began screaming, "Now he's coming toward me!" The chase ended when Finch allegedly stabbed Soliz in the head, causing her to fall on the ground.
Afterward, Finch walked away saying to himself, "I'm a bad man," before fleeing in his girlfriend's car, court documents allege.
Soliz was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. The 50-year-old male victim took himself to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.
Based on witness descriptions, officers were able to apprehend Finch in the first block of Brookdale Avenue in the city's Visitacion Valley neighborhood, where they arrested him, police said.
Finch is being held without bail.
Soliz's killing is the city's first homicide of 2019.