Suspect In Brutal Stabbing Attack On Elderly San Francisco Shopkeeper Arrested
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A man suspected in a brutal stabbing assault against an elderly San Francisco store owner that left him without vision in one eye was arrested after a police officer responding to a robbery days later recognized the suspect from a police bulletin, police said Friday.
San Francisco police said the stabbing happened at a market in the 1500 block of Franklin Street on June 2. The 72-year-old shopkeeper was found suffering from stab wounds to his face and upper body. He told police he got in an altercation with a person who stabbed him before fleeing the store.
Police did not identify the suspect but an online fundraiser indicated the victim was Peter Yohannes. The GoFundMe page states Yohannes was set to retire because of increasing crime. On the day of the attack, a vehicle purposely drove into the storefront and, hours later as Yohannes was dealing with the repairs, he was confronted by an aggressive man who refused Yohannes' demand to leave the store and who then stabbed him multiple times, according to the fundraising website.
Police said the victim was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries but has since been discharged. The fundraising page said Yohannes lost vision in his left eye because of the attack and only has partial vision in his right eye.
A bulletin which included images from surveillance video was circulated to law enforcement.
On June 7 at about 9:45 a.m., officers responding to reports of a fight at Third and Stevenson Streets determined a suspect, Donovan Cole Catron, 30, no known address, attempted to rob ta 56-year-old man of his duffel bag. Officers arrested Catron for attempted robbery, possession of narcotics paraphernalia.
One of the officers on scene recalled the crime bulletin from the June 2 stabbing incident and recognized Catron from the photos. Catron was then charged with assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated mayhem, battery resulting in serious injury and elder abuse.
Yohannes' GoFundMe page described him as a longtime neighborhood shopkeeper who, along with his spouse, have been been small business owners in San Francisco for 25 years.
"Unfortunately, due to the recent spike of violence and burglaries, they felt defeated and had essentially been living/working in fear," his daughter said on the fundraising website.
Out of an original plea for $10,000 to help with medical expenses, donors have contributed more than $80,000 as of Friday afternoon.
