7 charged in connection with assault, robbery near San Francisco’s Pier 39
By Brandon Downs
Seven suspects have been charged in connection with an assault near San Francisco’s Pier 39 last week, prosecutors said on Friday.
Prosecutors said officers found a person unconscious and bleeding from the mouth near the Pier 39 parking garage shortly before 10 p.m. on Feb. 21.
Prosecutors allege that the group of seven men got out of a Chevrolet Tahoe and approached the victim, who was walking with his fiancée and infant child.
One of the suspects, 23-year-old Matthew Aval Taylor, reached out his hand as if they were going to shake hands, but instead lunged at the victim’s neck and ripped off a gold and diamond necklace, prosecutors said.
When the victim tried to get his necklace back, several men surrounded the victim and repeatedly punched and kicked him, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege that when the victim fell to the ground unconscious and motionless, the driver of the vehicle got out and kicked the victim in the head.
The victim’s fiancée used pepper spray in the direction of the suspects as they entered the Tahoe and drove away.
That vehicle was later found using license plate reader cameras, tracking the suspects along Interstate 80 to Vacaville. The vehicle was stopped in Sacramento by the California Highway Patrol as the group was parking at a suspect’s home, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the necklace was recovered from the vehicle.
The six other suspects were identified as 22-year-old Jatrell Joseph Howard, 21-year-old Emanuel Barajas-Brenes, 33-year-old Anthony Lee Henson, 26-year-old Johnatan Guzman Lopez, 23-year-old Rootrevion Deontez Gay and 22-year-old Ayden Jared Guzman.
The seven suspects were charged with second-degree robbery with an allegation that they inflicted great bodily injury and one count of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
The suspects were released on their own recognizance and are scheduled to appear back in court on March 17 to set a preliminary hearing.
