Arrests Made In Separate Chemical Attack, Stabbing That Injured San Francisco Police Officers
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Police in San Francisco on Thursday confirmed that suspects have been arrested in two separate violent assaults on officers resulting in injuries that happened over the past weekend.
The first incident happened on the morning of July 24. That Friday at aabout 9 a.m., SFPD officers from the Ingleside Station responded to a report of a dispute between neighbors on the 1600 block of Sunnydale Avenue.
Upon arrival, officers witnessed a physical altercation involving eight people from two families. Officers intervened and tried to separate the two families and stop the fight.
During the incident, an unknown chemical was sprayed and an unknown liquid chemical was thrown. Two of the officers involved were sprayed and hit with the liquid chemical during the fight causing minor burns and temporary vision loss.
Additional units were called to the scene to break up the fight. The officers were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Two suspects in the incident -- identified as 29-year-old Regina Cole and 23-year-old Tyresha Blake, both San Francisco residents -- were taken into custody. Cole and Blake were transported to San Francisco County Jail where they were booked on charges of assault with caustic chemicals.
On Saturday night, multiple officers were injured during a second incident when responding to a call about a stabbing in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
Thursday morning, the SFPD Park Station Twitter account posted about the incident that happened on Saturday, July 25.
The post didn't offer much in the way of details, but stated that officers from the station located near the northeastern corner of Golden Gate Park at 1899 Waller Street responded to reports of a stabbing at the intersection of Waller and Clayton on Saturday.
The post said that the sergeant required eight stitches for the stabbing injury. Two other officers were also injured during the arrest of the suspect. Police did not offer any details about the nature of those injuries.
Authorities later confirmed that at around 9:15 p.m. Saturday, two police sergeants responding to the call were flagged down by a witness who pointed out the possible suspect.
The suspect -- later identified as 40-year-old San Francisco resident Mike Anderson -- fled on foot. The two sergeants exited their vehicle in pursuit and caught Anderson in the area of Page and Ashbury Street.
Anderson actively resisted officers while they were taking him into custody and during the struggle produced a sharp metal object and stabbed one of the sergeants in the face with it. The sergeant was able to immobilize Anderson until additional officers arrived and took him into custody.
The sergeant who got stabbed was taken to an area hospital and received eight stitches to his cheek. He was also treated for other non-life threatening injuries. The suspect was also taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. Anderson was later transported to San Francisco County Jail where he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon upon a peace officer, three counts of resisting an executive officer and resisting a peace officer which causes injury.
"San Franciscans have never tolerated attacks on the police officers sworn to protect their safety, and I have no higher priority as our City's Chief of Police than to protect the life and well being of all members of the San Francisco Police Department," said Chief of Police William Scott in a press release about the incidents. "Recent attacks on San Francisco police officers over the weekend are unacceptable, and they merit our city's most aggressive response."
While arrests have been made in both cases, they remain open investigations. Anyone with information regarding either incident is asked to call the SFPD 24-Hour Tip Line at 1415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD.
