Mission Mission

Let me explain to you why this is the cutist thing ever:

Last Thursday night/Friday morning, some severely confused/crazy woman allegedly noticed a person drop his keys near 22nd and Bartlett as he was fumbling them out of his pocket to unlock his car.  Before he could see where they fell, she snatched them up and waited as the befuddled would-be driver retraced his steps to see if he had left them somewhere behind.  Utilizing this moment of vulnerability, the woman opened the car, started it, and made her swift getaway–DOWN THE BARTLETT STREET SIDEWALK!

She wasn’t a very good driver and couldn’t quite navigate the narrow sidewalk, slamming back and forth into the trees that lined the walkway and the walls of the neighboring homes, obliterating the little sidewalk community garden that residents had planted there and maintained over the years.  When she finally slammed into a dumpster and realized she was stuck, she aborted the car theft and jumped out, attempting to escape on foot.  Congrats to our pal Tava for waking up from all the commotion and calling the police, who apprehended the woman shortly thereafter.

Now, back to the tree bandages.  The neighbors have been trying to save the garden and the trees that were injured during this attempted vehicular herbicide, and they’ve fashioned these adorable tree slings to help the little guys recover.  In the meantime, they’ve been working to replant the garden and re-erect the tiny fences that lined the sidewalk.  So much love for a neighborhood garden!  Get well soon!

Saturday night on Valencia Street. An angry mob marches past waving banners and exclaiming that SFPD had killed someone that day. Patrol cars blocked traffic ahead of them, keeping them safe, and trailed along behind, along with some other serious hardware.

At one point, demonstrators stopped a paddy wagon in its tracks by lacing a big black monolith in its path:

Sorry for the blur, but here you can see a squad car full of police in full riot gear:

This guy brought up the rear, ready to batteram stuff out the way (although he handle that monolith business earlier — an officer exited a vehicle to move it by hand, speaking into his radio, ” We’ve got a big black monolith blocking our path”):

Then they rode off into the sunset, Valencia Street lit up like downtown Reno by the flashing lights of a dozen police vehicles:

UPDATE: SFist has details on the killing here.

Watch your backs!

Reader Joel explains:

My 6 lb Yorkshire Terrier, Patti Labelle, was brutally attacked in Dolores Park yesterday evening (6/30/11) around 6pm by a black Pit Bull. Patti is doing okay now after an intense 6 hour trip to the SF emergency vet on 18th and Alabama (and $1100). She ended up with a 4 inch x 1 inch gash across the back of her shoulder and neck. The owner did provide her contact phone number and I am going to try it today, fingers crossed.

I have a friend who also had his dog attacked by a brown pit bull in Dolores Park yesterday as well. He had to take his dog to the vet, although the injuries were less severe.

Beware of dogs!

Here’s Patti enjoying happier times prior to this incident:

Austin K. explains:

He finds a bike and then pretends to talk on the phone for a few minutes, then takes his tool out and hides it behind his phone while he unscrews and yanks the seat/post. This happened about a block away. After he did that, I followed him a bit and snuck up to him/scared the shit out of him and ripped it from his hands as he was trying to put it in his bag, then i gave him a “nudge” into the street with my foot. We went back and forth for a bit then he ran off. I ended up getting it back to the owner when he came out a few minutes later.  Saddest part was that there were 4 people around him watching him do it, they knew what was happening, they did nothing. If you see something bad happening do something, put your life on hold for a second and help out if you’re able. Don’t let creeps like this ruin someones day.

Read on.

(file photo, one block North of incident)

Kimberly wonders what was going on last night (Friday):

Last night, my friend and I were at 18th & Mission around 10:15 or so. Dude runs past – you always wonder why they’re running – he’s followed by a dude who shouts “I can keep running all night!” (Clearly it’s a cop in street clothes) Then the ENTIRE block is shut down by, like, 15 or 20 cop cars. No reports on it this morning. We almost got run over by a cop while crossing the street to get away.

Anyone have any additional info?

Apparently this ended with the cabbie being arrested. Nice one, dude.

[via Lindsey]

Our man Dex has the whole story here. Be sure to click through for the full image, which reveals a third participant and the answer to the question, “Where the fuck are that dude’s shoes?”

Okay, if shoes on a wire mean you can score some dope on this block, surely a shoe and a Pinocchio means something even more sinister — but what exactly? One shudders to think.

[via Dex]

Wow, be careful out there fellow cyclists–it sounds like we have another maniac on the loose.  Our pal Shelley and her friend were just menaced by a crazy driver who appears to have it out for people riding bicycles:

It was a black Chevy Impala with tinted windows. Rammed us from behind heading northbound on Shotwell btw 17th and 18th (right in front of the ODC building), and then executed a 3 point turn to escape. It was crazy, he came at us honking, and then shouted “I warned you!” as he drove off. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I’m just grateful the only serious damage was to Erik’s bicycle (The bike ended up under the dude’s front bumper.. totally snapped the back rim in two, crushed the right side toe clip, headset is fucked, etc.)

Luckily, they got the license plate and filed a police report, so be on the lookout for a Black Chevy Impala with license # 6PWS040.

It was almost one year ago exactly that some creep in an SUV went on a rampage and targeted 4 different cycles before eventually being caught by police, and even less than that since Yannick Linke was killed at Turk and Masonic by an allegedly drunk driver who then tried to flee the scene, so it’s clear that there’s definitely still some tension between automobiles and bicycles, even in one of the most cycle-friendly cities in the country.  Be careful out there everyone!

[Photo by Troy Holden]