A man arrested May 2 in South San Francisco and charged with 108 counts of child molestation was back in court this week.

Leonardo Gonzalez, a 35-year-old plumber from South City, appeared at his preliminary hearing accompanied by defense attorney Steve Chase.

Find out what's happening in South San Franciscowith free real-time updates from Patch.

According to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, four prosecution witnesses testified at the preliminary hearing: Jeffrey Lee, Matthew McNichol, Andrea Wideman and Lupe Mejia. The defense presented no evidence and the court ordered Gonzalez to answer all charges.

The case was continued until 8:45 a.m. July 3 for arraignment in higher court.

Find out what's happening in South San Franciscowith free real-time updates from Patch.

According to police, Gonzalez was taken into custody in the 800 block of Baden Avenue after a months-long investigation revealed that Gonzalez had molested a child under the age of 10.

Additional information released by the prosecutor's office states that the victim was eight years old. A hospital laboratory that conducted a routine test on the girl showed signs of sexual abuse. Police were notified and arrested Gonzalez.

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To request that your name be removed from an arrest report, send the following required items to Arrestreports@patch.com.

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The initial gambit by Nima Momeni's defense attorneys to move his trial from San Francisco did not pay off as the judge in the case ruled on the request for a change of venue on Friday.

Momeni's trial could finally begin sometime this year with the April 2023 murder of tech entrepreneur and CashApp founder Bob Lee. As Mission Local reports, his tentative trial date was set for May 20 on Friday – although the defense may seek further delays.

But for the change of venue motion, the judge didn't believe an impartial, home-grown jury could be assembled in San Francisco.

“Yes, he is the CashApp founder, but the court believes that killing him is the reason individuals are becoming more aware of him,” Judge Eric Fleming said, according to Mission Local.

The defense team surveyed 100 SF residents and found that while 86 percent had heard of the murder case, only 41 people agreed that Lee was a “Silicon Valley icon.” And less than a third said they had already formed an opinion about Nema Momeni based on news articles about the case.

Fleming said he thought about whether gruesome or gory details of the murder had been shared widely with the public and concluded that this case didn't really fit that description, Mission Local reports. And he added that potential jurors were equally likely to have “negative opinions and potential biases” toward the defendant, in this case being against the victim.

Bradford Cohen, who is part of the defense team recruited from Florida to defend Momeni after he apparently fired local defense attorney Paula Caney, admitted to Mission Local outside the courtroom that “we always file these motions,” referring to refers to the application for a change of jurisdiction.

While this was a defeat for the defense, they had a victory last week when Judge Fleming ruled in their favor in a request for seven years of phone records from Bob Lee's cell phones.

“The prosecution will seize both of Bob Lee’s phones for seven years because that’s when Bob Lee met Khazar Momeni – and the government maintains that relationship was legitimate,” attorney Saam Zangeneh told Mission Local.

Khazar Momeni, Nima Momeni's sister, is at the center of this case and Nema's possible motive for stabbing Lee. Lee had been in a romantic relationship of sorts with married Khazar Momeni for seven years and – having moved to Miami – was in town on business when the murder occurred.

According to evidence publicly released in previous court documents, on April 3, 2023, Lee and Khazar Momeni had spent the day together and attended a party at an individual's apartment at 1550 Mission Street. This person has been identified multiple times as Lee's friend or drug dealer, and it has been alleged that something inappropriate happened to Khazar Momeni while she was there, for which Nima Momeni may have blamed Lee.

Lee and Nima Momeni were seen on surveillance footage leaving Khazar's Millenium Tower apartment in the early hours of April 4, about 20 minutes before the stabbing occurred a few blocks away. The kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon may have come from a set in Khazar Momeni's kitchen.

Previously: Lawyers for Bob Lee murder suspect Nima Momeni want to move the trial from San Francisco

Pictured above: Nima Momeni arrives in court at the Hall of Justice on May 18, 2023 in San Francisco, California. 38-year-old technology entrepreneur Nima Momeni was charged in a San Francisco courtroom today in connection with the stabbing murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee. Momeni pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. (Photo by Paul Kuroda-Pool/Getty Images)

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OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press

40 mins ago

The Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, where the federal trial of David DePape is underway, is pictured in San Francisco, on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. Prosecutors say DePape broke into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and bludgeoned her husband Paul Pelosi with a hammer in October 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Prosecutors brought forward a string of law enforcement officials Monday to provide context around video that’s at the crux of their case against David DePape, the man accused of attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at the couple’s San Francisco home last year.

DePape has pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official with intent to retaliate against the official for performance of their duties. Prosecutors say DePape bludgeoned Paul Pelosi with a hammer in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, just days before that year’s midterm elections.

Federal prosecutors quickly moved through their witness list on the trial’s second day, bringing forward an FBI agent who collected the electronics DePape was carrying, a U.S. Capitol police officer who watches the surveillance cameras at the Pelosis’ home and another who has protected Nancy Pelosi since 2006, and a Bay Area Rapid Transit police sergeant.

Paul Pelosi was also expected to testify.

Some of the witnesses helped verify time stamps on footage from surveillance cameras at the Pelosis’ home, which are set to Eastern Time, and on BART trains, which were an hour behind Pacific Time.

Defense attorney Jodi Linker told jurors last week that she won’t dispute that DePape attacked Paul Pelosi in an encounter caught on police body camera video. Instead, she will argue that he believed “with every ounce of his being″ that he was taking action to stop government corruption and the abuse of children by politicians and actors. She said that means the government’s charges that DePape was trying to retaliate or interfere with Nancy Pelosi’s official duties don’t fit.

Federal prosecutor Laura Vartain Horn told jurors during opening statements Thursday that DePape started planning the attack in August and that the evidence and FBI testimony will show he researched his targets online, collecting phone numbers and addresses, even paying for a public records service to find information about Nancy Pelosi and others.

If convicted, DePape faces life in prison. He also has pleaded not guilty to charges in state court of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies. A state trial has not been scheduled.

Federal prosecutors say DePape smashed his shoulder through a glass panel on a door in the back of the Pelosis’ Pacific Heights mansion and confronted a sleeping Paul Pelosi, who was wearing boxer shorts and a pajama top.

“Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?” DePape asked, standing over Paul Pelosi around 2 a.m. holding a hammer and zip ties, according to court records. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington and under the protection of her security detail, which does not extend to family members.

Paul Pelosi called 911 and two police officers showed up and witnessed DePape strike him in the head with a hammer, knocking him unconscious, court records showed.

Nancy Pelosi’s husband of 60 years later underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands.

After his arrest, DePape, 43, allegedly told a San Francisco detective that he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage. He said if she told him the truth, he would let her go and if she lied, he was going to “break her kneecaps” to show other members of Congress there were “consequences to actions,” according to prosecutors.

DePape, who lived in a garage in the Bay Area city of Richmond and had been doing odd carpentry jobs to support himself, allegedly told authorities he had other targets, including a women’s and queer studies professor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

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A member of two key oversight bodies in San Francisco’s criminal justice system has been arrested on suspicion of a slate of suspected felony sexual assault allegations, records show.

William Monroe “Tariq” Palmer II  — whose story of redemption after three decades in prison led to media coverage and his emergence as an advocate — is accused of assault with force likely to commit great bodily injury, assault with intent to commit a felony, sexual battery by restraint, sodomy by use of force and false imprisonment.

The alleged incident took place in late August, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the case, who asked to speak anonymously. Investigators believe Palmer offered a ride to a woman who was walking to a BART station, took the woman to his home and assaulted her.

He was booked into San Francisco jail at 10:33 a.m. Thursday and is being held without bail.

Palmer was arrested on a warrant from the District Attorney’s Office, and his first court appearance is set for Monday, said Randy Quezada, a spokesperson for the agency.

Palmer was 17 when he was sentenced to life in prison after accosting an off-duty police officer at gunpoint and demanding money. When the man told him he didn’t have any cash on him, Palmer took him — in the man’s car — to an ATM at gunpoint, where the off-duty officer withdrew $200. When they returned to the car, the officer retrieved his gun and shot Palmer in the knee.

Palmer ran away but was arrested soon after. 

In prison, Palmer earned his GED and an associate’s degree. He studied art and took up painting. He painted murals there and, after his release, in a pod at the San Francisco County Jail. 

His requests for parole were denied repeatedly over 20 years, and ultimately he challenged his continued detention. When Palmer’s lawyers argued for his release decades later, they acknowledged that he “was reckless and impulsive and created a dangerous situation.” His sentence, however, was “constitutionally disproportionate,” they said.

The California Supreme Court ruled that his 23 years of incarceration were excessive. 

He was released in March 2019 and was on parole at the time of his arrest Thursday.

His experiences — both during and after his incarceration — drew significant media attention, from the Marshall Project and the Washington Post, which looked at the challenges former prisoners face while on parole. And he was featured in the Chronicle for his efforts to stop generational cycles of incarceration. 

After his release in 2019, Palmer immersed himself in civic life. He worked with an organization providing legal services to prisoners with children. On his LinkedIn page, he listed jobs with a Black-owned newspaper and a nonprofit to help “formerly incarcerated, at-risk youth, and system impacted individuals” find their footing back in society. He also hosts a local radio show.

The re-entry council appointed him to sit on the Sentencing Commission, which advises the mayor and Board of Supervisors on strategies “to improve public safety, reduce recidivism, and reform criminal sentencing.”

Palmer’s bio on the oversight board’s website says that after leaving prison, he “immediately assumed the position as a leader by advocating for social reforms, and mentoring youth.” It also noted he “had his own challenges with reentry.”

The Post story detailed Palmer’s efforts to rebuild his life, highlighting his work the Returned Citizens Theatre Troupe, a collective of former prisoners turned thespians. The story also chronicled his struggle with parole since his release, describing several encounters where he was jailed for violating terms of his parole, including one in which a fender bender in May 2020 led to an arrest. Court records show he was arrested in September of that year on another parole violation but further details were not immediately available.

Voters approved a charter amendment creating the oversight board in 2020. It consists of seven members, four appointed by the Board of Supervisors and three by the mayor’s office.

In 2021, members of the San Francisco Jail Justice Coalition — including Glide, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, and the Young Women’s Freedom Center, urged Supervisor Shamann Walton to support his application to the oversight board, saying he had “been instrumental in moving our jail system towards more just and fair outcomes for incarcerated people and their families.”

On his 2021 application to join the sheriff’s oversight board, Palmer said he is passionate about justice and equity in sentencing, adding that he would bring an essential perspective to the board because of his experience as a youth offender who’d received an unconstitutionally long sentence. 

“My period of incarceration has prepared me for my purpose in life,” he wrote, “to reform the criminal justice system with fair sentencing for juveniles, adults and life term inmates while maintaining public safety and justice.“

In July 2021, Walton submitted the names of Palmer and  three others to the supervisors’ Rules Committee, which forwarded them to the full board. 

Supervisors then appointed Palmer in 2021 to fill a seat. His term expired this year, and he was reappointed for a full four-year term.  

Upon hearing of the arrest, Supervisor Aaron Peskin said Saturday he’d written to Palmer and asked him to resign from the sheriff’s oversight board “effective immediately.”

“Otherwise I’ll have to go through the process of removing him,” he said.

Reach St. John Barned-Smith: stjohn.smith@sfchronicle.com 

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A man accused of burglarizing a South City home while its owners were away on vacation created more work than the cat sitter signed up for after it took the SWAT team to remove the man who allegedly caused around $20,000 in damage to the home, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Levi Joe Smith, 43, of Forestville, is accused of burglarizing a home in South San Francisco Saturday, July 15, after the homeowner’s cat sitter found Forestville inside the home. He allegedly told the sitter she was at the wrong home and he lived there. The sitter called the homeowners, who were on vacation, and they called the police.

When police arrived, they discovered someone had forced entry at the back of the home, they called the landline and Forestville allegedly answered providing a false name. When asked to come out of the residence, he allegedly was brandishing a knife and threatened to kill the officers, which resulted in a two-hour standoff, according to the DA’s Office.

On Monday, July 17, Forestville refused to leave his jail cell for court, and then refused to come to court the next day. The court proceeded without him and his attorney pleaded not guilty. He returns to court July 31, and remains in custody on $75,000 bail. If convicted Forestville could serve up to eight years in state prison, according to the DA’s Office.

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A man accused of three felonies while robbing a liquor store in South San Francisco was arrested Wednesday, June 7, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Gerardo Alvarez, 18, allegedly walked into Sunshine Liquors and took several packs of hard lemonade and White Claws and walked out of the store without paying. He was confronted outside the store and Alvarez allegedly threw two cans at the victims, hitting one of them.

Two other clerks chased after Alvarez who allegedly punched one of the clerks twice before fleeing. An hour later, Alvarez allegedly returned to the liquor store and asked the clerk why he didn’t just let him leave with the liquor. Alvarez allegedly threatened to kill the victim and pulled out what appeared to be a black handgun. When police located Alvarez, he had a black BB gun and a 10-inch knife with a 5-inch blade, according to the DA’s Office.

Alvarez appeared in court Friday, June 9, and pleaded not guilty to robbery, felony threats and felony possession of a dagger. He remains in custody and his bail is set at $50,000. His next court appearance is set for June 23 for preliminary hearing.

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A handyman accused of murdering a vulnerable elderly woman during a burglary has turned up at the Old Bailey.

Hugo Da Silva Pires, 28, reportedly assaulted 76-year-old Nelly Akomah at her home late on June 20 and made off with her phone, purse, electronics and Bible.

Ms Akomah was found dead the next day at the property on Ladbrook Road in Croydon, south London.

An initial autopsy revealed that she had suffered a fractured larynx and two broken ribs.

The injuries were said to be consistent with strangulation, although tests continue to confirm how she died.

It is alleged that Ms Akomah’s bank cards were used to purchase groceries and watches after her death.

On June 23, Pires and his partner Catia Feliciano, 31, from Thornton Heath, south London, were arrested at Stansted Airport allegedly trying to leave the country.

Pires was charged with murder, burglary and fraud against Ms Akomah and Feliciano was charged with fraud and perverting the law.

On Wednesday, Pires, a Portuguese national, appeared at the Old Bailey for a 48-hour pre-trial hearing from Thameside Prison.

In court, he was assisted by a Portuguese translator and a lawyer via video link.

Judge Alexia Durran set a timeline for the case with a Sept. 13 hearing.

A preliminary three-week hearing was set for May 7, 2024, which was believed to be the earliest possible date.

The accused, who confirmed through a conversation that he had understood the translator, was taken into custody.

Earlier, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn of the Metropolitan Police said that Ms Akomah was an active member of the church and that her loss was “strongly felt by a lot of people”.

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Linda Wagar and Brianna Lanham

12 months ago

LIBERTY, Missouri – When handyman Jamie Seib saw FOX4 Problem Solvers waiting for him outside the courthouse, he ran.

This surprised us as we were only there to see his side in disputes with several clients, all of whom accuse him of cheating on them.

Liberty woman missing $400 in mail seeks answers

One of those clients was Deborah Mason, who sued Seib for the $1,500 she paid him as a down payment to paint her Pleasant Valley home. The work was supposed to be completed in a week, but that was months ago.

Mason said once she gave Seib money, she had trouble reaching him.

“He was missing for about a week,” Mason said.

But then Seib texted her that he needed $400 more before he could start the job. When she refused, Seib promised to start painting to prove to her that he was trustworthy.

That Saturday, he showed up with a ladder and spent an hour caulking boards outside their home. He even brought over a contractor-sized bucket of paint. Then, Mason said, he was gone again.

They exchanged increasingly heated text messages for days until Mason received a final text message from Seib telling her he wasn’t coming back.

“Ok, I’m done with all your disrespectful and negative thoughts towards me. Please put my ladder in the driveway and I’ll be there to pick it up,” Seib texted.

Mason then asked for her money back, but Seib never gave her a dime. She then filed a lawsuit and called FOX4 Problem Solvers.

Read more research on problem solvers on FOX4

“I feel like someone needs to stop this from happening to other people,” Mason said.

Problem solvers wanted Seib’s side. So we tracked him down at the Clay County Justice Center, where he’s being charged with theft for charging $4,800 to have another client’s carpet installed and never getting the job done.

Although that customer wasn’t in court, Mason was, and so was Rachel Cox, another disgruntled Seib customer.

Both women watched from the gallery as Seib, who appeared without a lawyer, declared to the judge that he was innocent. The judge ordered him to have a court-appointed attorney at his next court date on July 19.

“I hired Jamie Seib to build a patio for me,” Cox said after the trial. Cox said she paid him $5,000, but the workmanship was so poor that the deck began to collapse just weeks after he finished the job.

“I asked him several times to come out and fix it, but he never did,” Cox said.

Also included in the list of errors were foundations with no concrete support and split wood. Cox was awarded a $2,000 judgment against Seib in small claims court. That was nine months ago. She said she didn’t see a penny.

Meanwhile, Seib’s already bad day was about to get even worse. Problem Solvers recorded everything on camera.

“I’m not going to talk to you,” he told FOX4.

But Seib needs to talk to the judge.

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Find today’s top stories for Kansas City and all of Kansas and Missouri at fox4kc.com.

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David Gillispie, 41, of St. Petersburg (Picture: Pinellas County Jail)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, a St. Petersburg man allegedly stole thousands of dollars from a client and an employer in two separate schemes.

According to an affidavit, 41-year-old David Gillispie was painting a woman’s home when, unbeknownst to her, he obtained the customer’s checkbook and credit card.

Riverview’s principal was among 18 people arrested for human trafficking. Two teenagers rescued, officials say

Officials said Gillispie forged 25 checks and made 28 credit charges on the victim’s account between October 16, 2021 and November 18, 2021. In all, he is accused of stealing $18,200.61.

Gillispie was spotted on surveillance video doing the counterfeit check transaction. According to the affidavit, his name was also on the checks as the recipient of the stolen funds.

However, the sheriff’s office said this wasn’t the first time the handyman had stolen from customers.

In a second affidavit, the PCSO stated that Gillispie illegally took payments from customers while working as a sales representative for Spray Gunner between October 2020 and May 2021.

According to officials, the thefts were discovered when the business owner noticed a sharp drop in sales and realized his customers had high balances.

New York City fires more than 1,000 workers over vaccination requirements

The victim traced the balances to Gillispie’s work computer, where the employer found an open PayPal account on the workstation.

The affidavit states that the PayPal account is a clone of Spray Gunner’s official account, but is used to send payments directly to Gillispie.

Investigators found that Gillispie used multiple accounts to receive these payments and provide customers with large amounts of credit.

MPs said goods were dispatched to these customers with no payment made to Spray Gunner.

In total, the company lost $14,539.74.

Officials arrested Gillispie on Friday and charged him with two counts of fraud (fewer than 20,000).

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The trial of Billy Chemirmir, a man accused of killing elderly women in the Dallas area, began Monday.

The 48-year-old is charged with the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. The Associated Press reported that if convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. He pleads not guilty to the charges.

Chemirmir was arrested in 2018 when 91-year-old Mary Annis Bartel survived an attack on her apartment in a senior living community in Plano, Texas.

Although Bartel died last year, her statement was recorded earlier so the jury could hear her testimony.

“My eyes were just fixed on those green rubber gloves that I saw,” Bartel said in the video. “When I saw those two green rubber gloves, I knew immediately, firstly, I shouldn’t have opened the door, secondly, my life was in grave danger.”

Bartel said she tried to push him away but was overpowered.

“He said, ‘Don’t fight me, lie on the bed,'” said Bartel, who then passed out trying to smother her with a pillow.

When she woke up, her wedding ring, engagement ring and more were missing. She said she couldn’t remember the details of the man who attacked her.

The next day, police tracked Chemirmir to his nearby home, where they found jewelry and cash. The discovery of a discarded jewelry box led police to Harris’ home, where they found her dead after being smothered by a pillow.

“This is about stalking, choking and stealing,” prosecutor Glen Fitzmartin told the jury in his opening statement.

The AP reported that the defense did not issue an opening statement.

See more Associated Press reports below.

Billy Chemirmir’s trial began November 15 for the death of one of 18 women he allegedly killed in Texas over a two-year period. Above, this undated photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office shows Chemirmir. File/Dallas County Sheriff’s Office via AP

In his opening statement, Fitzmartin said that earlier that day, Harris and Chemirmir checked out at a Walmart store at the same time.

After his arrest, authorities announced they would be investigating hundreds of deaths, raising the possibility that a serial killer had been stalking the elderly. In the years that followed, the number of people accused of Chemirmir’s murder grew.

Fitzmartin said jurors would also hear about the killing of 87-year-old Mary Brooks, who was found dead at her Richardson home in January 2018. Chemirmir was accused of her death.

Brooks’ death, Fitzmartin said, was originally described as natural causes, but following an inquest following Chemirmir’s arrest, the coroner changed the cause of death to homicide.

Fitzmartin said that the day before Brooks was found dead, she was at a Walmart, the same Walmart Harris had before her death later in the year. Fitzmartin said a model vehicle known to be driven by Chemirmir was parked next to Brooks’ vehicle.

“He follows her out of there, follows her to her house, kills her, steals from her,” Fitzmartin said.

Most of the victims were killed in independent residential communities for the elderly, where Chemirmir is believed to have broken into apartments or posed as a craftsman. He is also accused of killing women in private homes, including the widow of a man he had cared for in his job as a home caregiver.

Chemirmir’s lawyer described the evidence against Chemirmir as circumstantial evidence.

Update 11/15/2021 5:10 PM ET: This story has been updated to include quotes from Mary Bartel.

Billy Chemirmir is accused of killing 18 elderly women in Dallas and its suburbs over a two-year period. Above, jurors are shown recorded video testimony of victim Mary Bartel as she answers questions from the prosecutor and defense attorney during the murder trial of Chemirmir (second from right) at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on November 15. Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP, pool

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